United vs City: The ultimate Manchester Derby preview stat pack

And it's the United defence that will come under severe scrutiny once more. Only Norwich (28) and Leicester (25) have conceded more goals amongst EPL teams across all competitions than United's 23. Ole Gunnar Solskjær was once again grateful for the stoppage-time heroics (in both halves) of Cristiano Ronaldo whose midweek brace in Bergamo secured a point for United at Atalanta. The Red Devils haven't kept a clean sheet in any of their last 13 assignments (all competitions) at Old Trafford. Their last home shutout was against Granada on April 15th. Solskjær isn't the only manager with problems though. Pep Guardiola's City side lost to Crystal Palace in the Premier League last time out, making it two defeats from two after their EFL Cup exit on penalties at the hands of West Ham. Instalment number 186 of the Manchester Derby should be a fascinating one.

United vs City: Facts & figures

• Ole Gunnar Solskjær has won four of his eight meetings with Man City boss Pep Guardiola in all competitions, the best win-rate of any manager to face the Spaniard at least five times (50%).
• Since joining Man United, Bruno Fernandes has been directly involved in more goals (44 goals, 33 assists) than any other Premier League player across all competitions.

• Man City has won seven Premier League matches at United, the joint-most of any away team at Old Trafford, alongside Liverpool.
• Man City has failed to score in three of their 10 Premier League matches this season, already as many as in the whole of 2020-21. However, the Citizens have never failed to score in the 12:30 Saturday kick-off slot since it became a regular fixture in the Premier League in 2016-17 (23 matches).

Team news

For the hosts, Paul Pogba continues his domestic suspension and Raphaël Varane has been ruled out for a month with a hamstring problem. Solskjær will persist with a back three that served him well at Tottenham, meaning that Eric Bailly will keep his place after featuring against Atalanta. Aymeric Laporte is suspended for the visitors so we should see John Stones and Ruben Dias resume their central defensive partnership for City that was so fruitful last term. Oleksandr Zinchenko could come in for either Kyle Walker or João Cancelo, who both started against Brugge in midweek. Remarkably, Raheem Sterling has never scored against Man United in 23 attempts so he's unlikely to start, although you just never know with Pep Guardiola. Phil Foden is again expected to be deployed as a false 9.

🧮 Likely XIs

🔴 United (3412): De Gea; Bailly, Lindelöf, Maguire; Wan-Bissaka, Fred, McTominay, Shaw; Fernandes; Cavani, Ronaldo 🔵 City (433):  Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo Silva; Jesus, Foden, Grealish