Manchester United vs Manchester City - prediction, team news, lineups

By Ben Knapton | 11 Sep 2026 11:00, Last updated: 11 Sep 2026 11:25

Old rivals at Old Trafford headline gameweek four of the 2026-27 Premier League season, as Manchester United and Manchester City renew hostilities in Sunday's 4.30pm kickoff.

The bitter adversaries both return to domestic duty on the back of Champions League triumphs, the Sky Blues sinking Porto 2-0 before the Red Devils doubled that total in a 4-0 slaying of Sabah.

Pre-season optimism has quickly become early-season pessimism for those of a Man United persuasion, who have been left underwhelmed with the Red Devils' meagre total of four points from an opening three Premier League games, all of which were mismatches on paper.

However, Michael Carrick's men only made their squad dominance count in their 5-2 battering of Ipswich Town, sandwiched in between a horrendous 2-0 Hull City defeat and gut-wrenching 2-2 draw to an Everton side boasting just 18 senior players.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles's astonishing leveller for the Toffees last weekend condemned Man United to an unwanted and unfamiliar fate, as they have now conceded two goals in each of their opening three league games for just the second time in 50 years, after also doing so in the 2020-21 season.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Red Devils ended up taking second place that year, suggesting that there is no reason for premature panic at Old Trafford, who were in high spirits once again on Thursday evening when their charges swept aside UCL debutants Sabah.

A first clean sheet of the season and third-straight multiple goal game could not have arrived at a better time for Carrick, who has also prevailed in nine of his 10 Premier League home matches in his second spell and is aiming to become the first Man Utd manager in 113 years to win both of their opening Manchester derbies in the league.

Only AH Albut in 1895 and John Bentley in 1913 have won both of their first two Man Utd-Man City clashes as Red Devils boss, but Carrick's opposite number Enzo Maresca is also aiming to join an elite crowd of Sky Blues bosses on Sunday.

Eight previous Man City managers have won their first league Manchester derbies - including four this century in Kevin Keegan, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Manuel Pellegrini and Pep Guardiola - and Maresca has already led the visitors to the top of the Premier League table.

Despite only putting one past Coventry City last weekend - Erling Haaland's customary header - the Sky Blues are currently edging out holders Arsenal on goals scored, before the Gunners take on Sunderland on Saturday night.

From three straight wins to four consecutive successes, Man City's triumphant sequence continued on Tuesday thanks to Haaland's latest heroic act, a brace against Porto to take him up to a staggering 42 goals from 39 Champions League group stage/league phase games.

Victory for City on Sunday would also see the Sky Blues win their first four Premier League games of a season for the seventh different time - a new outright record, overtaking Chelsea's six - but Guardiola's final sojourn to Old Trafford last season was a miserable one, as Carrick's Man United prevailed 2-0 in January's derby.

Manchester United form (all competitions):

Long-serving left-back Luke Shaw was a notable absentee from the Man Utd squad against Sabah, but Carrick revealed in an update that the Englishman's absence was only due to the bout of cramp he suffered at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Shaw should therefore be given the green light to start what will be his 300th Premier League game, but Carlos Baleba (ankle), Matthijs de Ligt (back), Manuel Ugarte (knee), Tom Heaton (hamstring) and Amad Diallo (ankle) are unavailable.

The Benjamin Sesko vs. Matheus Cunha selection dilemma is dominating the Man Utd team news headlines, but after both scored in the victory over Sabah, Marcus Rashford could ultimately be the one to miss out on the first XI.

Maresca has no such quandaries to solve up top, where Haaland seeks to build on a stellar record of eight goals from seven league appearances against Man United, although just two of those strikes have come at Old Trafford.

The Scandinavian will almost certainly have to do so without Jeremy Doku, who is still struggling with a calf issue, but Nico O'Reilly is back to 100% after pulling out of the lineup to face Coventry with a back injury.

Enzo Fernandez was pressed into his full debut in that fixture and should be retained in the XI after also shining against Porto - setting up Haaland's header - but Ayyoub Bouaddi should make way for ex-Man Utd transfer target Elliot Anderson.

Manchester United possible starting lineup:

Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw; Tielemans, Mainoo; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Cunha; Sesko

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Donnarumma; Nunes, Guehi, Dias, Gvardiol; Anderson, Fernandez; Semenyo, Cherki, Ndiaye; Haaland

Derby day has not always gone according to the script of late, as Man City have won just one of their last four Premier League games against Man United, whose fixtures this season have been nothing if not entertaining.

Both clubs also registered the most shots on target in the first three gameweeks - 19 apiece - so a high-scoring stalemate could very well be on the cards.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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