The Champions cruised to a 4-1 victory over Burnley at Turf Moor to return to winning ways, while United beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 on former manager Jose Mourinho’s first return to Old Trafford.
City are looking for a fourth successive home win, while United are seeking just their second away win.
Ahead of the game, Pep Guardiola has faced the press.
The derby still the biggest game of the season for fans?
I don’t know, I never ask them.
For you?
It is an important game. A big rivalry.
How do you assess Solskjaer?
Well, good. I’m not there to know. It’s difficult for me to judge my colleagues, I don’t know how they work. It’s uncomfortable for me. I think he’s an exceptional person but I don’t know.
Does United’s history matter?
Normally here we talk about what happened in the recent past and yesterday or the day before but everything is changing.. Tomorrow at 5.30 we start the game and the players decide who is going to win. Of course, history is huge and they have quality players and you have to try to beat them. We start today to speak about how they are as a team and what we should do to beat them.
Guardiola confirms no approach for Mikel Arteta. He says he hasn’t spoken to him but wants him to stay.
What does Jesus need to do?
He has to be himself. We need him and his goals. That’s why we won the last game. We need him for his goals and if he puts this idea in his head he is able to do it every game. For all the players, confidence has to be there all the time not just because of good or bad performances or winning or losing games. The greatest athletes all the time have a strong mentality that we all have to learn from. That is the key difference. They have to play, otherwise, they will not be in a high-level playing in the Premier League. They have quality and they can control it, they don’t need their manager, mum or friends to speak to them. They have to believe they are good enough.
Sergio Aguero is out but Aleks Zinchenko is available and could return: “
Zinchenko has trained for the last few days with all the squad. He’s ready but in his physical condition I don’t know how many minutes he can play.”
