Early team news: Five confirmed starters for Manchester City against Manchester United (Premier League)

Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City are seeking to maintain the pace with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League this weekend through the iconic Manchester derby.

The visit of Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United squad comes just days after Manchester City got back into their fine goalscoring form, with an Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne-inspired masterclass at Kenilworth Road finalising a 2-6 win in the FA Cup fifth round.

Five goals from the Norwegian and four assists from De Bruyne saw Manchester City progress into the last-eight of the competition, where a visit to the Etihad Stadium from Newcastle United awaits the reigning champions of the tournament.

Last time out in the Premier League, it was yet another away victory for Manchester City in the Premier League, as the reigning champions ground out a well-contested 0-1 win over Bournemouth on the south coast.

Three points over Andoni Iraola’s side kept City within just one point of the current league leaders Liverpool at the time, and firmly chasing a back-to-back treble – which if completed, would be the first of it’s kind in English football.

While ten Hag has plenty to think about with regards to his United set-up on Sunday afternoon, given the ravaging injury situation over at Old Trafford, Pep Guardiola is likely to only be missing Jack Grealish due to his groin problem sustained in midweek.

Ahead of the official confirmation of team news from the Etihad Stadium, sources across social media have began revealing elements of the Catalan coach’s selection, with the first details provided by FPLMaineRoad.

According to the information of FPLMaineRoad, Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake both start for Manchester City and make up elements of Pep Guardiola’s defensive unit for the visit of Manchester United.

The same source further reveals that Kevin De Bruyne also starts for Manchester City.

In further details provided by FplToni, both Phil Foden and Erling Haaland start for Manchester City and join De Bruyne in the attacking midfield and forward line set-up.

As per confirmation from Simon Bajkowski, Josko Gvardiol also returns to the Manchester City matchday squad following a period away from Pep Guardiola’s team through an ankle ligament problem.

Pep Guardiola and Erik ten Hag are expected to confirm their respective Manchester City and Manchester United starting line-ups from 14:30 (UK).

Now confirmed.