Manchester City travel to Old Trafford for the first Manchester derby of the 2026–27 season on Sunday.
Heading into the first derby without Pep Guardiola in a decade, Enzo Maresca’s side are in fine form, having won all three of their Premier League games so far, with Erling Haaland on fire as usual.
There had been concerns that star left back Nico O’Reilly would miss the trip to United through injury, but he has since been passed fit in a huge boost for the Cityzens.
That said, they do still have one issue, with another of their top stars set to miss the game.
Jérémy Doku to Miss Manchester Derby
Jeremy Doku is the only Manchester City player set to miss Sunday’s clash with United, with the Belgian winger still recovering from a calf injury.
Doku has been sidelined since suffering the issue during August’s Community Shield defeat to Arsenal.
Speaking ahead of the derby, Maresca confirmed that the 24-year-old needs more time before returning to action.
“Jérémy, I think he needs some more days,” the City boss said.
Doku’s absence is a significant blow for City, particularly given the form he showed last season. The winger enjoyed the best campaign of his City career, scoring eight goals and providing an impressive 14 assists.
Two of those assists came against United, as City cruised to a 3–0 victory over the Red Devils in their first Premier League meeting of the campaign.
It is believed that Doku’s comeback, as Maresca states, is just a matter of days away, and fans will hope to see the Belgium international see some minutes in midweek for the Caranao Cup third-round clash with Norwich City.
Doku may well be fit enough to start City’s next Premier League outing the following weekend, when Sunderland visit the Etihad.
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