Man City battle Man Utd as Rashford and Garnacho dropped – live updates

Manchester United have lost both of their last two Premier League games, last losing three in a row within a single season in December 2015 under Louis van Gaal. New manager Ruben Amorim is yet to lose three on the bounce in his top-flight managerial career, with this his 172nd such match across Portugal’s Primeira Liga and England’s Premier League.

39% of Man Utd’s goals conceded in the Premier League this season have come from corner situations (7/18), the highest share in the division. So far in 2024, they’ve conceded 15 goals from corners, just three fewer than they did in 2021 (8), 2022 (4) and 2023 (6) combined.

Ruben Amorim has already beaten Manchester City this season, with his Sporting CP side winning 4-1. Only one manager has beaten the reigning Premier League champions with two different sides in a single campaign, with Alan Pardew beating Man City with both Newcastle United and Crystal Palace in 2014-15.

Both are at a historic low – City over the last 10 games, United after 15 of a league campaign. Pep Guardiola looks to have gone with wing-backs – potentially Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes – because of a lack of defenders. United lack two of their usual forwards with Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho omitted from the squad.

In his own press conference, Ruben Amorim insisted that the United job “was my only option”, adding that “when Manchester United talked to me, I had no doubts because I had already something in my mind that it could be a possibility”.

“We will face a great opponent and I’m more focused on our problems. So we have a lot of issues here, so I’m more focused on what we should do on Sunday to win the game.

“I’m really focused on the details. I just want to improve the team so I cannot live it like a normal derby, like it should be – two great teams fighting for the title. And it’s not that in this moment. So it’s just one more game with a very good opponent.

“The great teams can respond at any moment – and I think they are in a better place than us in the type of understanding the game, the way they play and the confidence they have. We will have a strategy: try to win the game with the strategy like it should be.”

City have conceded at least twice in seven of their last 11 Premier League games (W4 D3 L4), as many times as they had in their previous 62 in the competition.

Erling Haaland has nine goal involvements in just four Premier League appearances against Manchester United (6 goals, 3 assists). It’s already the most goal involvements any Manchester City player has against the Red Devils in the competition.

Phil Foden has scored six goals in his last four Premier League appearances against Manchester United. Only Sergio Agüero (8) has scored more Manchester derby goals for the Citizens in the competition than Foden (6, level with Erling Haaland).

In his pre-match press conference, Pep Guardiola said that for his players, “the less emotional you are the better”.

“In our jobs we always want to do our best and when that doesn’t happen you are more uncomfortable. That is not just the managers but there is bigger scrutiny for the team. I’m fine. When I have more thoughts, it is about what we can do and what I feel right now is how I felt in he last month. Nothing has changed.”

He added that City need “to shoot more and cut out the mistakes”, saying: “What I want is my players back.

“I would desperately love to compete with the squad we had at the beginning of the season. My regret is that we don’t we have these, not needing new ones.”

He added that despite the club’s positive financial results, it “doesn’t mean we have big, big resources to buy whatever we want, especially with how expensive the transfer market is”.

Explaining his decision to leave out Rashford and Garnacho, Amorim said: “Selection. We try to evaluate everything: training, performance, game performance, engagement with the team-mates, pushing the team-mates up. Everything is on the line when we analyse and try to choose the players, so that is my selection.

“I don’t want to send a message. It’s simply an evaluation, and they know it. The players are really, really smart. Everybody understands my decision. I have to choose.

“The context is difficult. We have to win games and we have a difficult situation. I pay attention to everything, the way you eat, the way you put on your clothes to go the game. Everything. I make my evaluation and then I have to decide. I have a lot of players to choose.”

Manchester City have won five of their last six Premier League games against Manchester United (L1), more than they had in their previous 13 (W4 D3 L6).

United have lost each of their last three Premier League away games against Man City, conceding 13 goals in the process. They last lost four consecutive league visits to the Citizens between 1952 and 1955.

The Red Devils have lost 20 Premier League games against Man City – only against Arsenal (21) have they lost more in the competition.

Ruben Amorim has explained why Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were dropped from his Manchester United squad to face Manchester City in the derby, with the Portuguese manager revealing it was not purely a footballing decision.

Rashford and Garnacho were surprise omissions from Amorim’s team to take on Pep Guardiola’s side at the Etihad, with both players having featured in the win at Viktoria Plzen on Thursday.

Amorim confirmed that neither player is injured, adding that both Rashford and Garnacho trained at Carrington on Sunday morning while the first-team prepared for the trip to the Etihad.

These two sides have met a total of 172 times, with the first meeting dating as far back as the 1890s. Overall, United have won 67 City have won 56, and 49 have ended as draws.

Last season, City won both meetings in the league (3-0 at Old Trafford and 3-1 at the Etihad), though they lost the FA Cup final to their rivals in the final match of the season.

In August, City won the Community Shield on penalties after a 1-1 draw.