[3-5-2]: Manchester United predicted lineups against Manchester city as Ruben Amorim changed formation to stop Erling Haaland
Manchester United travel to rivals Manchester City looking to kickstart their season after back-to-back defeats in the Premier League.
Ruben Amorim lifted his players in midweek with a late 2-1 win over Viktoria Plzen but the Czech minnows still caused his side problems and he has a long way to go before getting United back on track. United are hoping to pile the misery on City, who are suffering their own spell of poor form after seven defeats in their last ten matches.
Amorim is expected to make a handful of changes from the team that beat Plzen on Thursday night as he continues his rotation policy after making five alterations for the Europa League clash.
He could end up sticking with the same back line he fielded in the Czech Republic with Noussair Mazraoui as a make shift centre-back again alongside Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez in front of keeper Andre Onana – which means leaving out Leny Yoro.
Amorim started with Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes in central midfield against Plzen but expect Manuel Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo – who both played in the 3-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest last week – to return.
Amad Diallo could drop back down to wing-back after starting in attack in midweek, with Diogo Dalot continuing on the opposite flank.
Fernandes is likely to push forward and join the front line alongside the returning Alejandro Garnacho – while Rasmus Hojlund has earned the right to start up top after his brace against Plzen – despite Marcus Rashford’s goalscoring history at the Etihad.
United are 13th in the table and are in desperate need of points in order to finish as high at the table as possible and will fancy their chances against a City side lacking confidence and form after their 2-0 loss to Juventus on Wednesday night.
But Amorim has insisted United are focusing on their own problems after registering just 19 points from 15 games and are expecting a strong City team.
“I never think about these things,” he said. “We will face a great opponent and I’m more focused on our problems, so we have a lot of issues here. I’m more focused on what we should do on Sunday to win the game, so I’m really focused on my team.”
Man Utd expected XI (3-4-2-1): Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez: Dalot, Ugarte, Mainoo, Amad; Fernandes, Garnacho; Hojlund
