As the new Premier League season approaches, so too does the dawn of another round of Manchester Derby’s as Manchester United and Manchester City battle it out to decide if the city is red or blue.
Last season, United won the opening fixture at the Etihad 2-1 thanks to a penalty conversion from Bruno Fernandes and a beautiful finish from Amad Diallo after connecting with a magical ball from Lisandro Martinez, clearing the defensive line for Amad’s impressive touch taking it round the keeper.
Then, four months later, The Citizens travelled to Old Trafford, with a relatively uneventful 0-0 draw playing out, leaving United unbeaten in the Premier League by City.
Now, United are set to face their bitter rivals after the September international break on the 13th September, with The Red Devils already having a potential advantage for the game.
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Manchester Evening News has reported that 2024 Ballon d’Or winner Rodri his still out of action, recovering from an injury he sustained at the Club World Cup.
The defensive midfielder came off injured against Al-Hilal in the Round of 16, having suffered an issue with his groin.
Now, discussing the situation, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has commented: “Rodri is getting better but he had a big injury in the last game against Al-Hilal.”
He continued: “He has trained better in the last few days, hopefully after the [September] international break is when he will be really fit.
“Hopefully in these games he can play some minutes but what is important is he doesn’t have pain because we don’t want this Rodri coming back injured.
“We try desperately to avoid that. He has been training the last two sessions with us and that’s good.”
The 29-year-old has taken part in City’s recent two training sessions, however has not been included in the squad to travel to Palermo for their friendly this weekend, and has also been ruled out of the Premier League opener with Wolves.
