Pep Guardiola's big Man City derby day decisions made clear by injuries and goals at Peterborough

Guessing a Pep Guardiola teamsheet for a big game, is it? Oh, good.

Manchester United are next on the agenda for defending Premier League champions Manchester City, who have not beaten their bitter rivals in the past three attempts on home soil across all competitions.

Tuesday’s 2-0 FA Cup fifth-round win at Peterborough United proved to be a reasonable workout and might have given a little more clarity to the three major areas of selection debate.

Sticking on our tin hats, City Is Ours will have a walk through each of those and pick our derby day XI for Sunday.

Centre-back pairing

Even considering his absence from City’s past two games, Kyle Walker seems sure to start given the insurance he offers against United’s threat on the counter-attack.

Ederson and Joao Cancelo’s form this season means the goalkeeper and full-backs pick themselves. Who to start at centre-back might represent the biggest dilemma of them all for Guardiola.

The Ruben Dias-John Stones partnership of last season has given way to Aymeric Laporte and Dias for the most part this time around, although City have only conceded once in the Premier League with Stones on the field.

Not long ago it would have felt unthinkable to take Dias out for a big game, but Guardiola did that against Chelsea and Laporte and Stones excelled.

The duo’s superior passing in tandem - particularly in light of the sluggish displays against Tottenham and Everton - could lift City, even before we consider the leg injury that led to Dias being substituted at half-time at Peterborough.

We just - just - lean towards Laporte and Stones, although there’s not really a bad call to make here.

Number eights

City’s midfield shape can vary depending on the opponent and game