Manchester United vs Manchester City (Premier League): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch | OneFootball

Manchester City return to action this Saturday as they once again partake in the Manchester Derby in the Premier League and look to secure their first league win of 2026.

City travel to face their bitter rivals coming off consecutive and convincing victories in domestic cup competitions against Exeter City in the FA Cup third round and Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg, scoring an astonishing 12 goals across the ties.

The latter came on Tuesday night as Pep Guardiola’s side secured a huge win on Tyneside to take one step towards Wembley, defeating Newcastle 0-2 thanks to new signing Antoine Semenyo and the ever-creative, Rayan Cherki.

It was a robust clash and a hard-fought victory for the Blues, as despite being heavily depleted, the likes of Abdukodir Khusanov, recently-recalled Max Allyene, and CFA graduate James Trafford excelled under the lights at St James’ Park.

Now, all eyes are set on league action as the Boys in Blue continue to go in search of their first victory of the new year and aim to obtain it from one of the biggest occasions in the football calendar, particularly for those who reside in Manchester.

The Red Devils come into the fixture in rather poor form, with a solitary 1-0 win over Newcastle being their only victory in the last five across competitions under the stewardship of both Ruben Amorim and Darren Fletcher, before the club’s hierarchy made the decision to appoint Michael Carrick for the remainder of the campaign.

The highly-anticipated derby will be the Englishman’s first game back in charge of his former club and only his third head coach role of his managerial career subsequent to his three-game stint at United in 2021 and a two-year spell in the dugout of Championship outfit Middlesbrough.

Manchester City will be desperate to secure all three points on Saturday, as not only is the fixture of seismic importance to the club’s culture and faithful supporters, but it is also of immense significance in regard to the Premier League title race.

Should Pep Guardiola’s men wish to stay in the conversation for the trophy, a win this weekend is essential as the Blues fight to close what is currently a six-point gap from the league leaders, Arsenal.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the much-anticipated Manchester Derby!

Match Details

Manchester United host Manchester City at Old Trafford on Saturday 17 January, with kick-off scheduled for 12:30 (UK).

Match Officials

The Premier League have confirmed that the vastly experienced Anthony Taylor will be the man in the middle to officiate this fierce rivalry.

Check out the full list of match officials below!

Team News

For the hosts, Manchester United have received a huge boost to player availability, as both Amad Diallo of Côte d’Ivoire and Bryan Mbuemo of Cameroon are at the disposal of head coach Michael Carrick following their respective eliminations from AFCON.

On the contrary, however, Noussair Mazraoui remains in his home nation of Morocco, as his side progressed to the Final of the competition after defeating Nigeria on penalties, making himself unavailable for the hosts this weekend.

In the medical room for United remains Netherlands international Matthijs De Ligt, who sustained a back injury in early December and looks to be unlikely to make a return for this mammoth fixture.

Shea Lacey will also miss Saturday’s derby after the teenager saw himself dismissed for two yellow card offences against Brighton as Manchester United crashed out of the FA Cup at the third round stage.

For Manchester City, the list of absentees remains extensive as Omar Marmoush – despite being knocked out of AFCON by Senegal – will feature in a third-place play-off for the Pharaohs and will return to England following the conclusion of that match.

Centre-back duo Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol are confirmed to be sidelined, as the pairing picked up longer-term issues against Chelsea leaving City with a rather desperate defensive dilemma to handle.

John Stones is still fighting to return to fitness after sustaining a muscle injury in December, which rules the Englishman – who rather unfortunately has only managed seven league appearances this campaign – out of the visit to Old Trafford.

Mateo Kovacic is still expected to be unavailable for Pep Guardiola as the Croatian continues to recover from Achilles surgery. However, a return for the No.8 should be on the horizon. Savinho and Oscar Bobb also find themselves in the medical room.

It remains to be seen if Nico will be part of Manchester City’s matchday squad, as the former FC Porto man picked up an “incredible knock” against Brighton, which saw him miss out in midweek at Newcastle.

Pep Guardiola’s Press Conference Quotes

“Ruben [Dias] will be back soon, Josko [Gvardiol] no, John [Stones] hopefully – we’ll see.”

“He [Antoine Semenyo] has scored three goals.”

Head-to-Head

In the last Manchester derby face-off at the Etihad Stadium back in September, the home side ran out resounding 3-0 victors thanks to a header from one of Manchester City’s own, Phil Foden. A brace from the ever-prolific Erling Haaland made sure of an emphatic win, and the fact that Manchester would belong to the ‘Noisy Neighbours’.

Historically, contests between Manchester United and Manchester City have been exceptionally competitive.

In the 175 matches between the two sides, the Sky Blues have come out on top on 57 occasions, whilst the Red Devils have won 68, with the remaining 50 ending in a draw.

Statistics

Man City have won more Premier League away games against Man Utd than any other visiting side (9), while only Liverpool (41) have scored more goals at Old Trafford than the Citizens (37).

Manchester United have failed to score in four of their last five Premier League home games against Manchester City, including the last two in a row. They’ve not gone 3+ home league games without a goal against the Citizens since a run of four between December 1911 and September 1914.

Manchester United have drawn each of their last three Premier League games, last having a longer run of consecutive draws in September/October 1992 (5).

Manchester City have drawn each of their last three Premier League games, last having a longer run of consecutive draws in October/November 2009 (7). This will be the first meeting between two sides both on a run of 3+ consecutive Premier League draws since February 2001, with Spurs beating Man City 1-0 in that.

Only Bournemouth (16), West Ham United (15) and Chelsea (15) have dropped more points from winning positions in the Premier League this season than Manchester United (14), while Manchester City have dropped four points in their last two games, just one fewer than in their first 19 matches of 2025-26 (5).

This will be Michael Carrick’s second stint as manager at Manchester United, following his three-game spell in November/December 2021 (W2 D1). As a player, Carrick only recorded more wins in the Premier League against Sunderland (16) than he did against Manchester City (P24 W13 D3 L8).

Erling Haaland has been involved in more Premier League goals against Man Utd than any other Man City player (11 – 8 goals, 3 assists), having a hand in all three goals on his last appearance at Old Trafford in October 2023 (2 goals, 1 assist in a 3-0 win).

How To Watch

For those in the United Kingdom, this enticing rivalry can be viewed live on Sky Sports from 12:30 (GMT).

For United States-based viewers the match will be available on USA Network and UNIVERSO from 06:30 (EST).

Check out the full global TV listings HERE!

City Xtra will have full live coverage available on our X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram channels throughout matchday, with content also provided on cityxtra.co.uk!