Pep Guardiola admitted he does not know which XI he will pick for Sunday’s Manchester derby, with just three fit defenders available.
The injuries to John Stones, Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji were compounded by Rico Lewis’ red card last week at Crystal Palace, meaning the only senior defenders available to Guardiola are Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol.
"I don't know what I have to do. I need players. We have three and we will see what happens today and tomorrow," Guardiola said in Friday’s press conference.
"Maybe some winger has to play as a full-back or Matheus [Nunes] can play as a full-back, or maybe can play five at the back with wing-backs as wingers. We are thinking what to do with a situation with just three central defenders.
"The soul and spirit of this team is there,” he added. “We are sad for the players because the way they run and fight with their circumstances.”
As mentioned by the City boss, Nunes is an orthodox option in the full-back positions, Bernardo Silva has played at left-back before, while Jack Grealish has also played deeper in recent weeks. Another option for Guardiola is to give more minutes to Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, although starting the inexperienced youngster in a game of such magnitude is a risk.
Elsewhere, it’s not clear if Phil Foden or Mateo Kovacic will be fit to play after both were unused substitutes in the midweek loss to Juventus.
With all this in mind, here’s the XI we think Guardiola will select against Manchester United…
1. GK: Ederson
With both Ederson and Stefan Ortega making mistakes in the last two games, it's difficult to know which keeper will start on Sunday. Given the latter's experience, he could just nick it.
2. RB: Kyle Walker
Responded with an excellent statement to the vile online abuse he received following the Juventus match.
3. CB: Ruben Dias
Probably City's most in-form defender and Dias will need to be at his best against a high-scoring United.
4. CB: Josko Gvardiol
At fault for another goal on Wednesday in what is becoming a regular occurrence for the Croat. Like a few in blue, he's in desperate need of a rest.