Manchester City v Manchester United: Teams announced with Ronaldo & Varane out of the derby

Manchester City and Manchester United have announced their teams for Sunday’s Manchester derby at the Etihad.

The big news concerns the home side, with Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw, Edinson Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo missing.

It means the visitors look likely to start with a false nine, with Bruno Fernandes probably set to occupy that position.

United make three changes from the team that drew 0-0 with Watford last week, with Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay and Jadon Sancho coming into the side.

As for the hosts, Pep Guardiola confirmed in Friday’s press conference that Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake would be missing through injury, and neither have been included in City’s line-up.

That means John Stones and Aymeric Laporte come in as two of the six changes to City’s team. Raheem Sterling is surprisingly named among the substitutes, with Jack Grealish starting. lkay Gundogan is also on the bench, along with Gabriel Jesus.

City head into the game three points clear of Liverpool at the top of the league after the Reds beat West Ham United 1-0 on Saturday.

As for Ralf Rangnick’s side, three points would be massive for their top-four hopes, especially with Arsenal in ominous form at present.

Teams in full

Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Cancelo; Rodri, De Bruyne, Silva; Mahrez, Grealish, Foden.

Substitutions: Carson, Sterling, Gundogan, Jesus, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Delap, Mbete, McAtee.

Manchester United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Telles, Fred, McTominay, Pogba; Elanga, Fernandes, Sancho.

Substitutions: Henderson, Bailly, Jones, Dalot, Matic, Mata, Hannibal, Lingard, Rashford.