City vs United: Predicting the Manchester United XI for the derby

Manchester United will go into the derby against City full of confidence, having overcome Juventus 2-1 in Turin.

After falling behind to a spectacular volley by Cristiano Ronaldo, United came from behind through a free kick by Juan Mata and an own goal by Leonardo Bonucci, giving them an invaluable three points to reclaim second place in Group H.

Jose Mourinho’s substitutions did the trick, with Mata and Marouane Fellaini adding a directness to United’s attack that Juventus couldn’t deal with.

A rather difficult run of fixtures for the Red Devils will conclude with an away match against Manchester City in the Premier League.

City themselves will be on a high, having thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 in the Champions League, following a 6-1 demolition of Southampton.

The defending champions have shown no signs of slowing down. Even the injury to Kevin De Bruyne has hardly affected them, with Bernardo Silva filling the Belgian’s shoes superbly so far.

City’s defense is also the best in the league, having conceded only 4 goals in 11 matches, with Aymeric Laporte, in particular, being very impressive.

The same fixture last season ended in another famous comeback win for United, with Paul Pogba scoring 2 second-half goals in a 3-2 win after falling 2-0 behind in the first half.

United have made a habit of that in recent games. They’ve started several matches on the back foot this season, needing to trail by a goal or more to kick-start a response.

A similarly slack approach will not go unpunished at the Etihad, and Mourinho also addressed the issue with the media following the 2-1 win over Bournemouth.

With Romelu Lukaku unlikely to return and yet another injury scare for Pogba, let’s take a look at the most likely lineup that Mourinho will go with.