Manchester Derby: Manchester City’s strongest XI 

Midfield

Fernandinho is Manchester City's watchdog

Fernandinho will guard the back line by playing at the centre of the midfield trio. The Brazilian is an underrated part of City’s midfield as he is tasked with breaking the opposition’s attacking moves through timely interceptions and tackles.

He plays as a floater in the midfield as Fernandinho is an integral part of the team during the transition from defensive situations to offensive scenarios. He could dominate Nemanja Matic who has been awry in the past few matches. It is very much possible that Ander Herrera could be asked to close down Fernandinho and disrupt City’s passing moves at a very early stage.

David Silva and Bernardo Silva will flank him on either side and would be primary sources of creativity in this side. In the absence of Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo will be tasked with running through that inner right channel and creating goal-scoring chances through diagonal passes and through deliveries for the forwards.

While Bernardo might not possess the passing range of de Bruyne, he surely matches him in terms of tenacity and work rate on the field. Accordingly, David Silva would link the defence to attack. The Spaniard scored once in the derby between these two teams at Old Trafford last December.

The veteran would be against either Herrera or Fred from the opposite side. How Mourinho asks his midfielders to deal with and neutralize David Silva’s impact in the game would be one of the crucial factors.