The lineups are out from both the teams as Manchester United prepare to battle Manchester City at Old Trafford.
There is a sense of anticipation and excitement around Old Trafford as United face City in the first Manchester derby since the appointment of Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola at the respective helms.
Many expected Rashford to start in the derby after his excellent hat-trick for the England U21s against Norway but Jose Mourinho has instead chosen Jesse Lingard to start while Mkhitaryan fills up the other wing.
Today’s team for the Manchester derby… #MUNMCI pic.twitter.com/JDJbfCAoN9
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 10, 2016
Elsewhere, there are no changes to the defence and midfield as the back four and the midfield duo of Fellaini and Pogba retain their position in Mourinho’s side. The onus will be on Rooney and Zlatan to provide United with a thumping start to the match.
CITY XI | Bravo, Sagna, Otamendi, Stones, Kolarov, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Silva (C), Sterling, Nolito, Iheanacho #utdvcity #mcfc
— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 10, 2016
For City, Claudio Bravo will be in charge of goalkeeping duties for the first time since his arrival from Barcelona while Aguero’s absence means that Guardiola has taken a bold but wise decision to not tinker with a False Nine and instead start Iheanacho up-front who has produced the goods whenever given the opportunity.
It is going to be a mouth-watering clash among the two titans of Manchester as Jose and Pep look set to pit their wits against each other and it would be exciting to see which manager manages to get an upper-hand in this battle.