Man City lineup vs Manchester United predicted as Rodri starts and Rayan Cherki call made

Manchester City travel to Old Trafford for the derby on Saturday lunchtime

Manchester City travel to Old Trafford for Saturday's derby buoyed by a midweek win at Newcastle United which leaves them within touching distance of the Carabao Cup final, a 13 game unbeaten run in all competitions, and the expectation that a £20million move for Marc Guehi will be confirmed in the coming days.

City have acted decisively to sign Guehi this month rather than battle it out for his signature on a free transfer at the end of the season. The Blues still have several defensive injury headaches and will likely start the derby with Max Alleyne and Abdukodir Khusanov at the heart of the defence.

The pair have started the last two games and performed well. Ruben Dias, John Stones and Josko Gvardiol are all sidelined leaving Nathan Ake as the only other option. The 30-year-old played 88 minutes in midweek and Pep Guardiola has spoken about the difficulty the Dutchman has in playing multiple matches in a week. He could start at left back, where he played against Newcastle, but Nico O'Reilly is perhaps the better option.

FOLLOW OUR MAN CITY FACEBOOK PAGE! Latest news and analysis via the MEN’s Manchester City Facebook page

The youngster was in midfield at St James' Park but Rodri surely starts the derby while Bernardo Silva is also a likely starter. O'Reilly's return to left back, where he faces competition from Rayan Ait-Nouri who has returned from the Africa Cup of Nations, allows City to potentially field Rayan Cherki in midfield after his goalscoing cameo at Newcastle.

That would be tough on Tijjani Reijnders but Phil Foden and Erling Haaland love playing against United and have scored 13 of City's last 15 goals against their City rivals. Jeremy Doku could edge out Antoine Semenyo on the other flank.

Predicted City XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Khusanov, Alleyne, O'Reilly; Rodri, Bernardo, Cherki, Foden, Doku, Haaland