Manchester United

Jordan Butler
BBC Sport journalist

The Etihad is set to host to the 197th Manchester derby this weekend with both City and United enduring indifferent starts this season. BBC Sport explores some key themes as this historic rivalry continues.

Three points from a possible nine represents Pep Guardiola's worst start to any league season, while 21 years have passed since Manchester City were last beaten in two of their opening three Premier League matches.

The previous time City lost three of their first four top-flight games was in 1995-96 under Alan Ball. That campaign ended in relegation and while that is almost certainly not going to happen to this side, defeat here could see them fall nine points behind the early pacesetters Liverpool.

Guardiola will again look to the in-form Erling Haaland to fire his side to victory. The 25-year-old scored a hat-trick in his first Manchester derby in 2022 and warmed up for this one by netting five times in Norway's 11-1 victory over Moldova.

It was the third five-goal haul of Haaland's senior career and he has now scored 48 international goals in 45 caps. City's number nine would usually dominate the headlines given the week he has had, but most of the focus during the build-up is likely to be on the club's new number 99.

Gianluigi Donnarumma could become the eighth City player to make their Premier League bow in a Manchester derby and the third goalkeeper after Andreas Isaksson in 2006 and Claudio Bravo in 2016. Neither kept a clean sheet, although Isaksson did appear as a half-time substitute for Nicky Weaver.

Five of the previous seven debutants ended up on the winning side, two found the net and one - Mikhail Kavelashvili - is now the president of Georgia.

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has elected to stick with Altay Bayindir as his number one goalkeeper despite Senne Lammens arriving from Royal Antwerp for £18m on deadline day.

The Belgian will have to wait a little longer for his United debut but is likely to be on the bench on Sunday after Andre Onana's loan move to Turkish side Trabzonspor.

Bayindir has failed to impress in his brief spell as Manchester United's first choice – bar his FA Cup penalty heroics at Arsenal last season - and he is one of just three keepers to make an error leading to a goal this term.

Regardless of who plays in goal, United will be buoyed by the fact they are yet to lose to their Manchester rivals under Amorim, with a 2-1 victory at the Etihad last season followed by a goalless draw at Old Trafford in April.

Listen to commentary of the Manchester derby on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds on Sunday

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Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

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What's the cause of Manchester United's big underperformance?

The Red Devils have only won one of their first four matches this campaign - their late 3-2 victory over Burnley in the Premier League.

It could be that the players simply aren't good enough - in which case United buying a whole new frontline and goalkeeper this summer makes a lot more sense – or a lack of confidence or just plain old bad luck.

One thing that won't have helped the players be efficient under Ruben Amorim and that could be blamed on his tactics is that since he took charge, United have taken both the lowest-quality shots up front and given up the highest-quality shots at the back.

However, if we look at their 30 Premier League games under Amorim overall, while obviously starting from a low bar, the team have been steadily improving since the start of March, creating more and better chances than their opponents (the yellow line) even if results currently suggest otherwise (the black line).

Why does it matter how much more United have recently dominated games and been 'expected' to score when at the end of the day, scoring and conceding actual goals is all that matters?

Because history tells us that football is a simple game: the more a team creates lots of good chances up front and allows few, bad ones at the back, the more success they have in the long term.

Simon Stone
Manchester United reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United youngster Sam Mather could still leave the club even though his hopes of a move to Turkey have been dashed.

Mather, 21, was in talks with Super Lig outfit Kayserispor about a deadline day deal but negotiations failed to reach a positive conclusion on Friday.

The Salford-born winger has been featuring in United's Premier League 2 side this season and started the recent victory over Manchester City at Leigh.

However, he is keen to play senior football and his representatives are continuing to explore options.

Serbia and Israel are the only two Uefa-registered countries where players can still move but the transfer windows in both the United Arab Emirates and Qatar remain open.

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

The time frame for Lisandro Martinez's return from injury has been the subject of several questions sent in via our Ask about Manchester United form.

United have been reluctant to offer any guidance on this, although during the summer I was told the Argentina defender was still "months" away.

In general, cruciate ligament injuries have an eight-month recovery period, which would be the beginning of October.

Ruben Amorim is notoriously cautious about when he brings players back from injury and he has the insurance of having Luke Shaw and England Under-20 debutant Ayden Heaven available for the left central defensive slot, which also hints at time being taken for a first-team return.

I would be surprised to see Martinez back until after the October international break and it might be longer before he is ready to start.

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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has given an insight into his life away from the pitch in a special episode of The Football Interview.

The Portugal international discusses his competitive nature and offers detail on what it's like to be judged by those who don't know him.

Take a look at the clip or watch Bruno Fernandes - The Football Interview in full here

Simon Stone
Manchester United reporter

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Manchester United have had someone from their academy in every first-team matchday squad since 1937.

That is an impressive record and one the club use to prove their commitment to youth development.

Yet Kobbie Mainoo was the only academy player in Ruben Amorim's squad for the win against Burnley immediately before the international break and the England midfielder went into the last days of the transfer window having told United he wanted a loan move away.

That request was not granted. But without Mainoo, for whatever reason, that record is in peril.

There are other players who fit the bill; including veteran goalkeeper Tom Heaton and young defender Tyler Fredericson.

However, Amorim has to deliver a winning team, not maintain records.

It is a very delicate balance. Yet it seems the United boss will only wreck the record if he has no choice.

"We want to maintain it," he said. "The past of Manchester United is built on kids.

"I don't want to be the guy that breaks that."

As the countdown continues to Sunday's Manchester derby, BBC Radio Manchester's Total Sport team brought you a live preview show.

Tap on the video below to watch it back (scroll to 13:46)...

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Manchester United have included Tyrell Malacia in their 25-man Premier League squad for the remainder of the 2025-26 season.

Malacia was the only member of the five-man 'bomb squad', which included Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford, Antony and Jadon Sancho, who did not get a move away from Old Trafford this summer.

His last appearance for the Red Devils came in United's final group stage match of the 2024-25 Europa League against Romanian side FCSB.

Josh Lobley
BBC Sport Journalist

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Manchester City at Etihad Stadium (kick-off 16:30).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Amrorim confirmed Matheus Cunha, Diogo Dalot and Mason Mount are all out for Sunday's match, adding that he "doesn't know" how long they will be unavailable for.

• He says he is "really pleased" with the signing of Senne Lammens: "He is a goalkeeper with a lot of potential. The goalkeeper needs to be strong with a lot of experience, but we have to look at the present with a focus on the future. It is a little bit of both. He has great potential and he will be ready."

• He confirmed Altay Bayindir will start in Sunday's match, adding: "It is a different league and country [for Lammens]. They will fight for the position, but in this game it is clear."

• On Sunday's opponents: "They are a top team with the best coach in the league. It is really hard to imagine how they will play because they change all the time, but we will be ready. It doesn't matter [that United are above them in the table]."

• He was asked about the famous club record, in which an academy player has featured in every matchday squad since 1937: "I don't want to be the guy that breaks that record. The past of Manchester United is built on kids that grew up here and stayed here for a long time. That should be our goal and I will try and maintain that."

• On Andre Onana's departure: "It could have been [that he stayed] but we understood this needed a change. It is hard to point out why - the performance, the moment, the bad luck in some moments, it was hard on him and us. Our thinking is to have a change in the goalkeepers. I wish him all the best."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Listen to full match commentary of the Manchester Derby on BBC Radio 5 Live

Hear more from Amorim on BBC Sounds

Simon Stone
Manchester United reporter

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Andre Onana's loan move to Trabzonspor was confirmed last night.

After initially being told by Ruben Amorim he was going to be first choice this season, the Manchester United goalkeeper has now found himself surplus to requirements.

The hamstring injury he sustained right at the start of pre-season training, which meant he had no warm-up games prior to the first Premier League game against Arsenal, and the mistake he made in the EFL Cup defeat at League Two Grimsby have not helped in that regard.

While the rights and wrongs of Senne Lammens' arrival can be debated, the Belgian has clearly been bought with an eye on the future.

It means Onana - whose United contract runs to 2028 - has almost certainly played his last game for the Old Trafford outfit.

The Trabzonspor move may be a loan - but I doubt he will return to United in any meaningful capacity.

Simon Stone
Manchester United reporter

There has been a lot of talk around Ruben Amorim's style of play at Manchester United but many of the questions sent in via our 'Ask about Man Utd' form have been about what Bruno Fernandes' best position is.

The United captain is facing a new challenge this season, as Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha occupy the attacking roles.

This is a big debating point. Amorim was very clear in the summer he wanted Fernandes in a deeper position because he wanted him on the ball more often.

His rationale was that Fernandes will find more room and that will allow him to have more impact on the game.

The secondary element of that is squeezing out Kobbie Mainoo as Amorim feels the Stockport-born midfielder is best suited to that position.

The alternative view is that Fernandes is more of a danger in one of the number 10 roles in Amorim's system and rather than spending most of his available resource this summer on attacking players, United should have bought a holding midfielder.

My personal feeling is Erik ten Hag got it spot on in the 2024 FA Cup final, when he effectively used Fernandes as a false nine as his football intelligence takes him into areas where he can be a danger and flanked by quick players, it causes opposition defences a major problem.

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It is one of the biggest fixtures of the season for City and United fans - the Manchester derby.

Pep Guardiola and Ruben Amorim's sides will be going head to head at Etihad on Sunday as they look to get the early upper hand in this Premier League campaign.

BBC Radio Manchester's Total Sport team will be discussing team news, tactics and talking points in a special preview programme from 18:00 BST.

Watch live here or streamed on this page later on

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The Premier League returns this weekend and so does the Manchester derby.

There have been some corkers over the years, but Wayne Rooney's favorite derby day was when Manchester United beat Manchester City 1-0 in the penultimate game of the 2006-07 season.

"Cristiano Ronaldo scored the penalty and the next day we won the league so we almost won the league at the Etihad," said Rooney on The Wayne Rooney Show. "It came down to Chelsea, who played Arsenal the next day and they drew 1-1.

"That was mad because I remember being sat at home and I had literally got my clothes ready to go out. I had a couple of beers watching the game and was thinking 'right if Chelsea don't win then we've won the league'.

"But Chelsea's Dutch centre-back Khalid Boulahrouz got sent off early, so Arsenal went 1-0 up.

"I'm then ironing my clothes and Chelsea equalised with roughly about 10 minutes to go and they hung on.

"We obviously then all met up and went out. But I think we knew if we won that game against City then we won the league. That was the first title I would have won. So I'd say that game is my favourite Manchester derby.

"But I also remember the other one with the Mario Balotelli 'why always me?' top.

"I'm sure it was that game when Ben Foster played and he messed up, and I've never seen the manager go at someone like he did!

"You know where someone's getting it and you feel like saying 'come on, leave him now' but there was no way Ben Foster could have played for United ever again.

"It was a bit too far I think."

Rooney scored one of the most iconic Premier League goals in a derby.

His overhead kick gave them a late 2-1 win in February 2011 and it won the Premier League Goal of the 20 Seasons award in 2012.

"I was so bad in that game," he laughed. "It's one of the worst games I've ever played. I couldn't control a ball.

"I think it's more of an iconic goal because it's the derby, you score and win the game 2-1. But you don't practise overhead kicks."

Watch The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds

England defenders Harry Maguire, 32, and Luke Shaw, 30, are both under assessment at Manchester United as the club look to bring in possible defensive reinforcements next summer. (Teamtalk), external

Juventus are looking at Atalanta's 27-year-old forward Ademola Lookman as a leading candidate to succeed 25-year-old Serbia international Dusan Vlahovic, who is expected to leave the Serie A club. Manchester United and Netherlands striker Joshua Zirkzee, 24, is also an option. (Tuttosport - in Italian), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

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Beth Tucker
Fan contributor

The United Stand, external presenter Beth Tucker gives her thoughts on giving new goalkeeper Senne Lammens an opportunity to prove himself in a high-stakes Manchester derby at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

"There is no easy game in the Premier League" says Beth.

"Get him straight in - the same way Sir Alex Ferguson did with David de Gea."

Find more from Beth Tucker at The United Stand, external

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Sheffield Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen has said he is "really happy" with new signing Harry Amass.

The 18-year-old joined on a season-long loan from Manchester United on transfer deadline day and could be in contention to make his debut as the Owls host Bristol City on Saturday.

Amass' arrival is a significant one because, given transfer restrictions, the left-back was the only senior outfield player brought into the club over the summer window.

"He feels really well, when I speak with him and see him on the pitch, I see a concentrated and happy boy, who likes his new life in Sheffield and he's doing really well." Pedersen told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"You always have expectations before when you're choosing players, but it feels like he feels really well and I'm really happy that he's in," he said.

Pedersen also expressed his gratitude to Manchester United for seeing the potential for Amass at Hillsborough.

Amass had made seven senior appearances for United and been capped from England Under-15 through to U18 level.

"I think we have to be proud, and we have to be very thankful, because what they have done for us is fantastic and big respect for what they have done," he added.

"I'm proud because they could see that Sheffield Wednesday could be a good space and a good club for Harry and the trust they have in this direction, and on the other hand what that has done for us, it's a big respect, and thanks."

Listen to the full interview and more on BBC Sounds.