Manchester United v Manchester City: Premier League – live

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… but if City are very much in the title race, surely United are as well, right? Right. We’ve been faffing around with the cups for the last week, so here’s a reminder of where the Manchester rivals currently stand in the Premier League as it nudges towards the halfway mark.

Erik ten Hag’s turn, and he takes the opportunity to eulogise the incoming Wout Weghorst. “He is the type of striker we don’t have in this moment. I have known him a long time and followed him through the leagues and the clubs and everywhere he came, he surprised. He is a goalscorer, definitely, but he is also the type who works for the team, a really good pressing player. He can also play counter attack. He is really effective.”

As for a possible United title challenge? “I don’t dream. I have to develop the team. It’s only January, so don’t talk about that.”

Pep Guardiola, who takes charge of his 500th top-flight league match this lunchtime, talks to BT Sport. “It’s a good scenario to make this milestone! I would prefer it to be at the Etihad, but it’s OK! Old Trafford is OK! We won a lot of games. We had fun, and we’d like to do it again. You cannot win all the time. But you do all you can to try to deserve it. You have to play every game your best. United’s patterns are better. A good run of results. They are active, not just reactive. They have good build-ups. They are a complete team. I have a feeling United is back. I always feel favourite, but you have to prove it, and I have a massive respect to United. Hopefully United has massive respect for us.”

Manchester United make three changes to their last Premier League starting XI. Of the team named for the 3-0 home win over Bournemouth, Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire drop to the bench, while Donny van de Beek is out for the season with a knee injury. Raphael Varane, Tyrrell Malacia and Fred step up.

Manchester City make two changes to the XI that started the 1-0 win at Chelsea. Manuel Akanji and Riyad Mahrez are in; Ilkay Gundogan drops to the bench while John Stones is injured.

The teams

Manchester United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Shaw, Malacia, Eriksen, Casemiro, Fred, Fernandes, Martial, Rashford.
Subs: Heaton, Lindelof, Maguire, Martinez, McTominay, Mainoo, Antony, Elanga, Garnacho.

Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Akanji, Ake, Cancelo, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Mahrez, Foden, Haaland.
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Phillips, Gundogan, Grealish, Laporte, Alvarez, Gomez, Palmer, Lewis.

Preamble

Back in October, a mere 104 days ago, City won the Manchester derby 6-3, a scoreline that seriously flattered an abject United. But since having their trousers freshly laundered, pressed and handed to them neatly folded in a high hat, Erik ten Hag’s side have got their act together big time. Of the 18 matches they’ve played in all competitions since that humiliation, 15 have been won, and only one has been lost. They’re currently on an eight-win sequence, boasting a perfect record since domestic football restarted after the World Cup. Tails round Old Trafford way are up.

City haven’t been quite so smooth since their sensational win. In ascending order of uncharacteristic averageness, they’ve lost at home to Brentford, been held at home by Everton, and crashed out of the League Cup at Southampton. They trail league leaders Arsenal by five points, hardly an insurmountable gap for a team of City’s usual brilliance … the only problem being, City aren’t currently playing to their usual brilliant standard. And so, for the first time in quite a while, they go into the derby slightly unsure of themselves, with Pep Guardiola admitting that a repeat of their performance at St Mary’s will spell real trouble against in-form United.

Then again, City were astonishingly good in the first half of their FA Cup tie against Chelsea. A reminder of how devastating they are when they click. And while United are trending upwards, they’re still very much a work in progress, the Ten Hag era still in its infancy, his team benefitting from a reasonably favourable run of fixtures. City, smarting from their midweek defeat and desperate to stay on Arsenal’s tail, could deliver a painful reality check.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that you can make a case for both sides. So good luck calling it! A second nine-goal affair in a row is unlikely … but wouldn’t it be lovely? Kick off is at 12.30pm GMT. It’s on!