Pep Guardiola can do what he's never managed before with Man City vs Manchester United

Guardiola can do what he hasn't before against United

Pep Guardiola has asserted almost complete dominance over all of his Premier League rivals since arriving at Manchester City in 2016. One of the only remaining question marks, however, is his derby record, with six defeats and two draws from 16 clashes with Manchester United. In particular, his two wins from seven home derbies is a record that he'd like to improve.

A derby double last season was welcome, especially the Etihad win, and if he backed that up this weekend with three points, he'd win back-to-back home games vs United for the first time as City boss, and win three in a row at all venues for the first time, too. Neither side has won three derbies in a row since 2016.

And Guardiola will feel confident of spoiling Erik ten Hag's resurgence at United, too, having won all three of his derbies when facing a United manager for the first time.

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New-look United will pose fresh problems

When City last played United, they had a back four of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Alex Telles, with Fred and McTominay ahead of them, plus starts for Paul Pogba and Anthony Elanga. This weekend, Maguire is out, Pogba and Telles are gone, and Wan-Bissaka is firmly out of favour. Lindelof, Fred and Elanga are also unlikely to play.

Instead, United could replace those shaky defenders with the likes of Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia, with Casemiro and Christian Eriksen ahead of them and Antony on the wing. Those appear to be significant upgrades, meaning City will have to work harder if they want back-to-back home wins.

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