Erik ten Hag names his starting XI to take on Man City… with Man United boss turning to a 36-year-old amid ongoing injury pile-up

Erik ten Hag has shuffled his side once more, with two changes for the trip to Manchester City. 

United fans had momentarily got excited when Rasmus Hojlund and Lisandro Martinez were spotted arriving with the team.

Both are sidelined through injury and were at the Etihad Stadium to watch their team-mates from the stands in a show of support. 

Meanwhile, it appears Bruno Fernandes will be deployed off the right, with Marcus Rashford through the middle and Alejandro Garnacho off the left. 

Erik ten Hag has made two changes from the side that beat Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup

It is a massive derby game and United go into it as significant underdogs given City’s form

‘An extra midfielder today? No, I don’t think so,’ Ten Hag told Sky Sports when asked if he was tweaking his 4-2-3-1 system.

‘Sometimes we want to overload that midfield by dropping players but by opposite movement to get a little bit of confusion there. 

‘To get an extra player there that we can use for overload, but also we need the runs behind.’

For Manchester City, boss Pep Guardiola has targeted pace in his attack with Jeremy Doku starting in a front three with Erling Haaland and Phil Foden.

United will be particularly wary of Foden, who has haunted them in previous match-ups.

Foden has 16 goal involvements this season – his joint-most in a single league campaign – and the last time City hosted United in the Premier League, he bagged a hat-trick.

Elsewhere, Nathan Ake starts at left back for Manchester City while Kyle Walker gets the nod at right back. 

Man City XI: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Stones, Ake; Rodri, Bernardo, De Bruyne; Foden, Haaland, Doku. 

Man United XI: Onana, Dalot, Lindelof, Evans, Varane, Casemiro, Mainoo, McTominay, Fernandes, Garnacho, Rashford.