Manchester United vs Man City confirmed lineups as Jack Grealish dropped in Pep Guardiola XI
Manchester United stick with their back three, with Victor Lindelof passing a late fitness test to start alongside Harry Maguire and Eric Bailey, who keeps his place from midweek.
Marcus Rashford drops to the bench, while there is no Edinson Cavani in the squad. Rashford has been ill for a couple of days, so Mason Greenwood gets the nod.
As reported by Miguel Delaney, there’s no Jack Grealish in the City starting line-up. It looks like Kevin De Bruyne will lead the line, with perhaps Phil Foden taking Grealish’s spot on the left. John Stones comes in for the suspended Aymeric Laporte, while Raheem Sterling still has to make do with a spot on the City bench.
Manchester United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Bailly, Maguire, Shaw, Fred, McTominay, Fernandes, Greenwood, Ronaldo
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Stones, Cancelo, Rodri, Gundogan, Bernardo, De Bruyne, Jesus, Foden
Ahead of the game
Manchester United head coach somewhat alleviated the pressure on his position with victory over Tottenham last weekend, which saw one of the main contenders to replace him, Antonio Conte, instead take the helm at Spurs. A 2-2 draw at Atalanta did little to ease concerns over Solskjaer’s tactical acumen, though, with Cristiano Ronaldo’s last-gasp intervention once against saving United’s blushes. The Norwegian will have to contend with problems in defence, too, with Raphael Varane ruled out and Harry Maguire out of form.
City, meanwhile, recovered their momentum during the week in a 4-1 thrashing of Club Brugge. Pep Guardiola’s side had endured a difficult past week up until that point, having been knockout out of the Carabao Cup on penalties before suffering a shock 2-0 defeat by Crystal Palace at the Etihad. That defeat left City five points behind leaders Chelsea, and they can ill afford to cede any more ground in the title race.
Solskjaer on his team selection: “I always thought [Lindelof] was going to make it but we’ve had a couple of issues since Italy. Edi [Cavani] was one of them. Marcus [Rashford] was only cleared this morning but he has made the bench of hopefully if he needs to can come on.
“Mason [Greenwood] has been one of the big plusses this season. It’s a big chance for him. We know it’s going to be a difficult one and we have to be at our best.”
