Update: |De Bruyne vs Grealish call complicates Man City predicted line up vs Manchester United News

Manchester City head into a huge derby vs Man United in the first game since learning that Kevin De Bruyne will leave at the end of the season.

How appropriate would it be for Kevin De Bruyne to run the show one last time at Old Trafford, running off into the corner with his arm raised towards the Manchester City fans?

Or whip in one of those trademark crosses for Phil Foden or Omar Marmoush to convert? In truth, a penalty smashed in at the Stretford End would suffice.

However, before Friday’s announcement, few would have expected De Bruyne to be involved from the start at United. He was last in the starting XI at Bournemouth in the FA Cup, but has been overlooked in recent games at Tottenham, away to Real Madrid, at Arsenal and at home against Chelsea.

He has been taken off early in other big games, such as the home defeats to Manchester United and Liverpool. That is part of the reason he is leaving with his only two starts in the last six games coming in the FA Cup.

In his place, could Jack Grealish retain his central spot after looking good against Leicester on Wednesday? The Savinho-Grealish-Doku combination behind Omar Marmoush looked dangerous in the first half, with Nico Gonzalex and Ilkay Gundogan behind.

Leicester were terrible admittedly, however it seems counter-productive to change too much from a good all-round performance. Maybe Bernardo Silva can come in for Gundogan for a bit of versatility, although contesting the midfield will be key to nullify United’s only real world-class threat: Bruno Fernandes.

At the back, Pep Guardiola has two choices. Stick with Plan A and restore Abdukodir Khusanov to the centre of defence next to Ruben Dias and return Josko Gvardiol to left-back. Or does he reward Nico O’Reilly with another start at left-back and keep Gvardiol in the middle.

If he goes for that gamble, he could play Khusanov at right-back and avoid having to choose between Rico Lewis and Matheus Nunes at right-back. The O’Reilly-Khusanov full-back partnership is perhaps the more in-form, but Guardiola may try to go with what he knows, even if right-back carries risk.

Predicted Man City XI vs Manchester United: Ederson; Lewis, Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol; Gonzalez, Bernardo, Grealish; Doku, Savinho, Marmoush.

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