MANCHESTER UNITED are WITHOUT Cristiano Ronaldo as they look to grab a crucial three points at the home of Premier League leaders Manchester City.
City are just three points clear of Liverpool at the top of the league and need a big win against their enemies this afternoon.
SunSport revealed that CR7 failed to show up at the Lowry Hotel for team prep on Saturday and his absence has left United’s senior players stunned.
Raphael Varane is another absentee for United, with Luke Shaw and Edinson Cavani also out.
Ralf Rangnick makes three changes as captain Harry Maguire replaces Varane, former City player Jadon Sancho starts in place of Ronaldo and Scott McTominay comes in for Nemanja Matic.
City have made six changes to the team that beat Peterborough in the FA Cup as Kyle Walker, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo all starting.
- Start time: 4.30pm GMT
- TV/Live stream: Sky Sports Premier League
- Man City XI: 31. Ederson, 2. Walker, 5. Stones, 14. Laporte, 27. Cancelo, 16. Rodrigo, 17. De Bruyne, 20. Bernardo, 26. Mahrez, 10. Grealish, 47. Foden.
- Man Utd XI: 1. De Gea, 2. Lindelof, 5. Maguire, 6. Pogba, 17. Fred, 18. B Fernandes, 25. Sancho, 27. Alex Telles, 29. Wan-Bissaka, 36. Elanga, 39. McTominay.
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What TV channel is Man City vs Man Utd on and can I live stream it?
- Manchester City vs Manchester United will be broadcasted live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League.
- The coverage will commence from 4pm UK time and be shown across both channel listed above.
- Subscription holders will have the game accessible to them via the Sky Sports website or the Sky Go app.
- US viewers can head to the NBC Website or app if a membership has been acquired.
Follow ALL the action with our live blog below…
Pep talk
They are faster, quicker and that’s why we are going to defend for the first time deeper and use the counter-attack for 90 minutes.
Pep Guardiola
Tactical change
With no natural striker in Ralf Rangnick’s starting XI you have to wonder if the German manager was forced into change once Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence was confirmed.
It will be interesting how United will line-up and who will fill the hole left by the Portuguese striker.
Technically we have a game today with neither side opting to play a striker in their starting line ups, which would suggest we should not expect many goals.
Huge game
Not that a Manchester derby needs spicing up at all but both of the teams, blue side and red, need a win today for different reasons.
City want to stay ahead of Liverpool at the top of the table in their pursuit to win back-to-back Premier League titles.
United need a top-four spot to keep Champions League football at Old Trafford for another season.
Man Utd subs:
3. Bailly, 4. Jones, 8. Mata, 10. Rashford, 14. Lingard, 20. Dalot, 26. Henderson, 31. Matic, 46. Mejbri.
Man Utd starting XI:
Not only is the exclusion of Cristiano Ronaldo a surprise but the one remaining striker, Marcus Rashford is on the bench.
McTominay comes back into the side after missing the last game.
1. De Gea, 2. Lindelof, 5. Maguire, 6. Pogba, 17. Fred, 18. B Fernandes, 25. Sancho, 27. Alex Telles, 29. Wan-Bissaka, 36. Elanga, 39. McTominay.
Man City subs:
7. Sterling, 8. Gundogan, 9. Gabriel Jesus, 11. Zinchenko, 25. Fernandinho, 33. Carson, 48. Delap, 79. Mbete, 87. McAtee
Man City starting XI:
Grealish starts for City while the returning Gabriel Jesus starts on the bench.
With Ruben Dias out with a hamstring injury, Kyle Walker comes into the side with John Stones filling in for the centre-back.
31. Ederson, 2. Walker, 5. Stones, 14. Laporte, 27. Cancelo, 16. Rodrigo, 17. De Bruyne, 20. Bernardo, 26. Mahrez, 10. Grealish, 47. Foden.
CR-ocked striker
The huge news is the confirmation that Cristiano Ronaldo will miss the game today due to injury, given the transfer saga that almost saw him join the blue side of Manchester before making a complete U-turn to rejoin his old team.
All week Pep Guardiola will have had his coaches drilling his defensive line on how to deal with the talismanic striker.
A player like Cristiano Ronaldo only needs to be ‘in the game’ for a few moments in any game and you can find yourself punished by the Portuguese striker.
Ralf Rangnick will have wanted to keep the news that CR7 was not to feature in this game right up until the last moment to disrupt the preparations of their rivals.
Ronaldo has score or assisted in 18 goals this season for Man Utd and will be a huge miss in a game that the red half of the city will be desperate for a win.
The German coach will have no doubt been working hard on an alternative style of play utilising his only available striker, Marcus Rashford.
Derby day
This is the 187th Manchester derby today.
Today’s game will be the 50th Premier League meeting between the clubs, with 21 away wins in this time, it is more than any other fixture in the competition’s history.
The away side has won seven of the last nine Manchester derbies in all competitions, with the only home victory being Man Utd’s 2-0 win in March 2020.
Pundit’s feeling
Ex-Man Utd striker, Michael Owen, told BT Sport how he feels his old team will get on in the derby today.
City will be too strong, too focussed for United here and they’ll control this game. United will score, but City will win 3-1.
Michael Owen
Betfair’s odds for Man City vs Man Utd
City are obviously favourites going into today’s game and Betfair have Man Utd at 15/2 to win at the Etihad.
Man City win 4/11
Draw 4/1
Man Utd victory 15/2
Bad voodoo
Man Utd are the one thorn in the side of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career.
Guardiola has lost four home games versus United, more than any other opponent in his career.
Raheem Sterling has failed to score in 23 league and cup appearances against Man Utd, including seven matches for Liverpool.
Fine form
Man City have won 15 of their last 17 Premier League games (D1, L1).
The reigning champions have won all 20 league matches this season in which they have scored first.
City are looking to complete a league double over United for the second time under manager Pep Guardiola, having also done so in 2018-19.
Derby passion
Irrelevant to how their respective seasons are going, the Manchester derby is always a chance to win bragging rights within the city.
Credit: @ManUtd Lone wolf
With Cristiano Ronaldo being ruled out for the derby, United will also be without Edison Cavani for today’s game.
That leaves Ralf Rangnick with Marcus Rashford as his only recognised striker for this huge game.
This may work for the German if his chooses to try and counter-attack Pep’s City team.
Speaking our ‘Langa
Anthony Elanga’s PE teacher has revealed he dazzled schoolmates in a school match for Hyde aged just 11 before going on to break into the United team just eight years later.
Mark Leadbeater, PE teacher at Hyde High School, was told this new lad was pretty good at football, so he came on as a substitute.
He told SunSport’s Gary Carter: “He got the ball, dribbled past five lads, went back around two of them, beat the goalkeeper, stopped the ball on the line and then tapped it in.
“Within about three months, his English was fluent.
“He sounds like he’s from Hyde now!
“His dream was to play football professionally.”
Matchday settings
Just look at that Etihad carpet…
Credit: Reuters Gary Neville on Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence
Gary Neville believes United could actually be better off without Cristiano Ronaldo in the team today.
“United over the last three or four years, particularly under Ole [Gunner Solskjaer] were a counter attack team,” he said on air.
“[They were] really comfortable sitting back, punching out through [Marcus] Rashford and others on the break.”
“And I think that will be exactly the same today, and actually Cristiano not being in the team,
“I could never say it’s a positive, but actually I don’t see it as the big loss that I might do in other games.
“Because I actually think on the counter attack Manchester United need to be dangerous today, and they’re better off with Rashford up front counter attacking than they would be with Cristiano I think.”
Credit: Getty Rangnick wants control in possession
It’s certainly a tall order, but United boss Ralf Rangnick wants his side to try and control the game against City today.
“It’s about controlling the game,” he said.
“It’s about not letting them play and not letting them have the ball without any pressure, because this is exactly what they are looking for.
“For us it’s about always finding moments where we can put them under pressure, where we hopefully can take the ball away from them and take advantage of those transitional moments.
“Some teams recently have done that and it is up to us to show we can also.”
Credit: PA Last time out
Here’s how things finished last time between these two teams – a decisive and comfortable 2-0 win for City at Old Trafford.
More of the same today?
Credit: The Times Cristiano Ronaldo NOT in the squad
There were rumblings early in the day that Cristiano Ronaldo was NOT going to play against Man City.
And those rumblings turned out to be spot on – CR7 is out with injury.
Manager Ralf Rangnick brought together his 21-man squad at the Lowry Hotel in Manchester on Saturday but Ronaldo couldn’t be seen.
SunSport can reveal that Ronaldo’s no-show WASN’T planned, and that certain United players were left stunned by the absence.
Edinson Cavani also wasn’t present, even though Rangnick indicated he would play the vital clash.
We’ll have all the latest on Ronaldo as the afternoon goes on.
Credit: Getty
Man City vs Man Utd team news
The big news is that Ronaldo is NOT in the Man Utd squad due to an injury.
Pep Guardiola, however, received a double defensive blow of his own in the 2-0 FA Cup win over Peterborough United as Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake were both dragged off early.
However, the central defenders will be assesed ahead of the game so both players could be in contention to play.
On the flip side, number two goalkeeper Zack Steffen is having shoulder troubles so he is unlikely to make it on the bench for the derby.
And talented youngster, Cole Palmer is still nursing a foot injury which means his return date remains to be unknown.
Scott McTominay has missed Manchester United’s last two fixtures through illness but Ralf Rangnick expects the Scotland international to be available for selection.
As for the other absentee missing from the Red Devils camp, Edinson Cavani hasn’t returned to training according to the boss which makes his chances of featuring against City slim to none.
Good afternoon!
Hello and welcome to SunSport’s live coverage of Manchester United’s mega-clash with rivals Manchester City today at the Etihad.
It doesn’t get much bigger than this does it?
United are still clawing and fighting to remain in the Premier League’s top four spots and need a vital win today to send a message to their fellow battlers.
Arsenal are up against Watfoird today while Tottenham play on Monday, so a solid United performance could set the tone for the rest of the season.
City will be feeling the pressure today, however.
They’ve got title rivals Liverpool breating down their necks and things were made worse for Pep Guardiola’s men when the Reds picked up a win over West Ham last night.
City beat United with ease at Old Trafford earlier this season and they’ll be hoping for more of the same at home today.
So get yourself nice and comfortable – we’re in for a barnstormer.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
