Heading into the 176th Manchester derby, the main fitness/injury concern, for both sides, was Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero. It looks like he could see his first action in a few weeks, and possibly use today’s clash against Manchester United as a way to get back into the groove, ahead of the Citizens’ Champions League clash at home versus Liverpool Tuesday night.
There was also a lot of speculation, with that aforementioned UCL clash a little more than 72 hours from now that City manager Pep Guardiola would field a weaker side; perhaps even a second line-up filled with second team guys.
The result is actually somewhere in between- you have some usual starters, and some reserves. Have a look:
How we line-up in the 176th Manchester Derby! ?
City XI | Ederson, Danilo, Kompany (C), Otamendi, Delph, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Bernardo, Silva, Sane, Sterling
Subs | Bravo, Walker, Agüero, Laporte, De Bruyne, Jesus, Yaya Touré
Presented by @HaysWorldwide #cityvutd #mancity pic.twitter.com/8QoJ2CMkWh
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 7, 2018
Yes, some key players are indeed rested for Tuesday night, most notably of course, Kevin De Bruyne. Conventional wisdom held that United manager Jose Mourinho might park the bus today and play for a draw here. However, with a somewhat weakened City side, it rather forces his hand to go more aggressive; for all three points.
As you can see from the tweet below, Mourinho is fielding his strongest team for this one:
Here's the team news, #MUFC fans!
This is how we line up for derby day. #MCIMUN pic.twitter.com/xJ5a9r28G9
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 7, 2018
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune corporation blogging community Chicago Now.
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