Aymeric Laporte to return - how Man City fans want to line-up against Marseille

direct to your inboxThe date and kick-off details for Manchester United and Manchester City's Carabao Cup semi-final have been confirmed. The match will come after a hectic festive fixture schedule for both clubs and be played on January 6 at Old Trafford, with kick-off at 7:45pm.

direct to your inboxManchester United will host Manchester City in one of the Carabao Cup semi-finals in a repeat of last year's last-four tie. Earlier this year City won 3-2 on aggregate after the Blues won 3-1 at Old Trafford and United won the reverse fixture 1-0.

straight to your inbox Pep Guardiola has named a strong Manchester City side to take on Arsenal in the Carabao Cup, with a semi-final place on offer. In the second of five games in 16 days over Christmas, with the two fixtures after this one coming in a 48-hour period, Guardiola could have been forgiven for resting some key players for the trip to the Emirates.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola suggests that John Stones is the perfect partner for new signing Ruben Dias.The Manchester City manager added Dias to his defensive ranks from Benfica in the summer for a club record fee, offset by Nicolas Otamendi moving the other way.

straight to your inboxGabriel Jesus and Aymeric Laporte did not make the Manchester City squad for their Premier League game with Southampton. Pep Guardiola was able to name a 20-man matchday selection for the first time this season after changes voted through this week to allow nine substitutes - although, to the club's annoyance, there is still only a maximum of three changes allowed during the game.

straight to your inboxThe 2020/21 campaign was never going to be an easy one for Manchester City – the fact pre-season training began just 16 days after their Champions League defeat to Lyon is often overlooked. Yet few would have envisioned Pep Guardiola’s side sitting ninth in the Premier League table heading into the Christmas period, although they do have a game in hand on seven of the sides above them.

straight to your inboxIt's safe to say Manchester City fans don't agree with the latest claim from their Liverpool counterparts when it comes to youngsters Phil Foden and Curtis Jones.Both exciting England midfield prospects are enjoying an increased role for their sides this year.

straight to your inboxWhen it comes to the Premier League, Manchester City fans will look out for two fixtures before any other - the games against Manchester United and Liverpool.

straight to your inboxManchester City will be looking to take advantage of Manchester United’s Champions League disappointment in today’s derby.United are reeling after they were knocked out of the competition in the group stages following their 3-2 defeat by RB Leipzig on Tuesday. By contrast, City breezed into the knockout stages of the Champions League with a 3-0 win over Marseille on Wednesday to top Group C.

direct to your inboxJohn Stones looks set to start in the back four for Manchester City as they take on their cross-city rivals at Old Trafford on Saturday.The centre-back's recent renaissance has seen him come back into the favour of Pep Guardiola, and it seems that he'll be rewarded with a place in City's starting line-up against Manchester United, alongside Ruben Dias.Stones' return to form has been at the expense of Aymeric Laporte.

straight to your inbox Manchester City are sweating on the fitness of Ilkay Gundogan for Saturday's derby after he came off in the win over Marseille with an ankle injury. Gundogan was one of two players to start the dead rubber against the Ligue 1 side from the team that beat Fulham 2-0 in the Premier League on Saturday, with Riyad Mahrez the other survivor.

straight to your inboxBernado Silva says he is 'very happy' to have Sergio Aguero back in the team after the striker made a goalscoring return from injury on Wednesday.Manchester City brought their Champions League group stage campaign to a close in style as they comfortably defeated Marseille 3-0 at the Etihad. Although the early loss of Eric Garcia to injury will come as a blow, Pep Guardiola was finally able to call upon the services of Aguero again, who came on with 25 minutes remaining.

straight to your inboxRio Ferdinand does not think Manchester City can be considered as a contender to win the Champions League this season.City were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the European competition during the 2019/20 campaign by French club Lyon and will be looking to kick on this time around. Pep Guardiola has won the Champions League twice as a manager - both with Barcelona in 2008/09 and then 2010/11.

straight to your inboxManchester City lost defender Eric Garcia early in their Champions League group match against Marseille tonight. Pep Guardiola made several changes to his starting lineup with his side having already qualified as group winners, and with an eye on the derby against Manchester United on Saturday.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola has named a strong starting XI for Manchester City's final Champions League group game against Marseille, with Sergio Aguero returning on the bench.City have nothing to play for tonight after securing top spot in last week's hard-fought draw at Porto, so fans were hoping to see some of the club's exciting starlets get a chance from the start for the visit of the French side.

straight to your inboxRodri could miss Manchester City's final Champions League group game with Marseille as a precaution after sitting out the team training session on Tuesday. The midfielder, who has been one of Pep Guardiola's most trusted and used players this season, was not feeling 100 per cent for the session so a decision was taken not to risk him.

straight to your inboxManchester City fans want to see Aymeric Laporte partner Ruben Dias at the back in the upcoming Manchester derby, rather than John Stones.City have finally started to gather some momentum, after an inconsistent start to the campaign, as Saturday's 2-0 victory over Fulham saw them win successive Premier League games for the first time this season following last weekend's 5-0 mauling of Burnley.Both victories saw Stones star in the heart of defence as the 'Barnsley