Manchester United vs Manchester City Preview

The Manchester derby arrives at Old Trafford on Saturday with the two rivals heading in contrasting directions. United suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Brighton in the FA Cup in their most recent outing, extending a difficult run that has seen them draw three consecutive league matches prior to that cup exit. City, meanwhile, claimed a 2-0 victory away at Newcastle in the Carabao Cup, maintaining their unbeaten run across their last five fixtures with two wins and three draws.

United’s recent form reveals significant struggles, with just one victory in their last five matches – a 1-0 home win over Newcastle on Boxing Day. Since that triumph, they’ve managed only three draws and suffered the FA Cup defeat to Brighton. They drew 2-2 away at Burnley, 1-1 away at Leeds, and 1-1 at home to Wolves before the cup disappointment. City’s record shows greater solidity with their 10-1 home demolition of Exeter in the FA Cup sandwiched between draws at home to Brighton (1-1), at home to Chelsea (1-1), and away at Sunderland (0-0).

The head-to-head record slightly favours United with two wins from the last five encounters, compared to City’s single victory and two draws. United won 2-1 away at City in December 2024 and repeated that scoreline in the FA Cup final in May 2024. City’s most recent success came with a commanding 3-0 home victory in September 2025, while the sides played out goalless draws in April 2025 and shared a 1-1 tie in the Community Shield in August 2024.

United will deploy a 4-2-3-1 formation with Shaw, Dorgu, Martinez, Casemiro, Lammens, Fernandes, Sesko, Yoro, Ugarte, Cunha and Dalot forming the starting eleven. City counter with a 4-1-4-1 setup featuring Silva, Nunes, Cherki, Khusanov, Haaland, Rodri, Donnarumma, Foden, Aké, Semenyo and O’Reilly from back to front.

Injured Players:

Manchester United: Matthijs de Ligt (Out), Shea Lacey (Out), Noussair Mazraoui (Out)

Manchester City: Josko Gvardiol (Out), Rúben Dias (Out), John Stones (Out), Oscar Bobb (Out), Mateo Kovacic (Out), Savinho (Out), Omar Marmoush (Out)

Manchester United have three players ruled out, depleting their defensive options. City face a significantly worse injury crisis with seven players unavailable, severely weakening their defensive and attacking resources across multiple positions.

Fans in the United Kingdom can watch on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League with coverage also available via Sky Go UK, NOW and SKY GO Extra, while the match kicks off at 12:30 GMT. US viewers can tune in via USA Network, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, UNIVERSO and UNIVERSO NOW. Australian supporters can follow the action on Stan Sport, and Canadian audiences have access through DAZN Canada, fuboTV Canada and Fubo Sports Network Canada.

Possible Line-Ups

Manchester United (4-2-3-1) Shaw, Dorgu, Martinez, Casemiro, Lammens, Fernandes, Sesko, Yoro, Ugarte, Cunha, Dalot

Manchester City (4-1-4-1) Silva, Nunes, Cherki, Khusanov, Haaland, Rodri, Donnarumma, Foden, Aké, Semenyo, O’Reilly

Manchester United – Last 5 Matches (All Competitions)

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
❌	Manchester United	1-2	Brighton & Hove Albion	English FA Cup	Jan 11, 2026
🤝	Burnley	2-2	Manchester United	English Premier League	Jan 7, 2026
🤝	Leeds United	1-1	Manchester United	English Premier League	Jan 4, 2026
🤝	Manchester United	1-1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	English Premier League	Dec 30, 2025
✅	Manchester United	1-0	Newcastle United	English Premier League	Dec 26, 2025

Manchester City – Last 5 Matches (All Competitions)

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
✅	Newcastle United	0-2	Manchester City	English Carabao Cup	Jan 13, 2026
✅	Manchester City	10-1	Exeter City	English FA Cup	Jan 10, 2026
🤝	Manchester City	1-1	Brighton & Hove Albion	English Premier League	Jan 7, 2026
🤝	Manchester City	1-1	Chelsea	English Premier League	Jan 4, 2026
🤝	Sunderland	0-0	Manchester City	English Premier League	Jan 1, 2026

Head-to-Head Record

Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
Manchester City	3-0	Manchester United	English Premier League	Sep 14, 2025
Manchester United	0-0	Manchester City	English Premier League	Apr 6, 2025
Manchester City	1-2	Manchester United	English Premier League	Dec 15, 2024
Manchester City	1-1	Manchester United	English FA Community Shield	Aug 10, 2024
Manchester City	1-2	Manchester United	English FA Cup	May 25, 2024

TV Listings / Streaming

Country	Broadcaster
Great Britain	Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Go UK, NOW, SKY GO Extra, Sky Ultra HD
USA	USA Network, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, UNIVERSO, UNIVERSO NOW
Australia	Stan Sport
Canada	DAZN Canada, fuboTV Canada, Fubo Sports Network Canada
Germany	Sky Go, WOW, Sky Sport Premier League
Spain	DAZN Spain, DAZN1 Spain, Movistar+, Movistar Plus+
India	JioHotstar
Singapore	StarHub TV+, 221 Hub Premier 1, 222 Hub Premier 2