Nine players set to miss January 2026 Manchester Derby

Manchester United are in full preparation for their clash with local rivals Manchester City, as The Red Devils look to redeem themself from earlier this season.

Back in September, United, under the management of Ruben Amorim, travelled to the Etihad, only to be sent home with a 3-0 loss.

Phil Foden opened the scoring in the first half, with an Erling Haaland brace sealing the deal, earning City three points.

This time round, things could be very different.

Not only is Amorim no longer in charge, with Michael Carrick at the wheel instead, but also there are nine players set to miss the game.

For United, Matthijs de Ligt is still out injured, with Toby Collyer also ruled out through injury after recently returning from loan with West Brom.

Alongside them, Noussair Mazraoui is also unavailable, however not through injury.

The talented defender is still on international duty as he helped the Morocco national side book a spot in the Africa Cup of Nations final.

So, thankfully for United, Carrick is only missing two of his senior options. The same can’t be said for Pep Guardiola however.

The Citizens are heading into the game with Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Mateo Kovacic, Oscar Bobb and Savinho all out injured.

Both Dias and Bobb have been sidelined with hamstring injuries, whilst knee problems have affected Savinho and Gvardiol, with the latter requiring surgery.

Elsewhere Kovacic has been affected with an issue with his foot, and Stones is suffering with with a muscle injury.

Alongside them, Omar Marmoush will also be missing as on the same day he’ll be representing Egypt in the AFCON third-place play-off game.

Of the nine men, four started the last Manchester Derby, with Dias, Gvardiol, de Ligt and Mazraoui kicking off the game.

However, Savinho and Bobb also got involved from off the bench, seeing six of the nine in the game last time round.