📅 September 13, 2026

The XI We Want Against City: the Everton Back Four, Sesko In for Cunha, Rashford Left

By Mav Jones · Manchester United fan writer

One change from the last league game. That’s the whole argument. The side that started at Everton, with Benjamin Sesko in for Matheus Cunha up front. Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw; Tielemans, Mainoo; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Rashford; Sesko. Kick-off is 11:30 AM Eastern on Peacock, NBC Sports Network and Telemundo, and the confirmed team sheets land about an hour before.

Before the case for each line, the caveat that has to sit at the top: this is the eleven we want, not the eleven we’re promised. Amad, Baleba, Ugarte, de Ligt and Heaton are out. Luke Shaw is a doubt after Carrick said the club “didn’t want to take any risks” with a cramp issue. Rashford came off at Everton having “felt a bit of something” and was rested on Thursday. Bruno was filmed limping out of Old Trafford on Thursday night and the club has named no injury. Any one of those can rewrite this at 10:30 AM.

The league back four, with Thursday’s four in reserve

Dalot, Maguire, Martinez and Shaw have started all three league games together, and the six goals they conceded are the reason most previews want change. We’d keep them for one reason, and it’s the man they’re facing. Haaland’s header against Coventry was his 20th headed Premier League goal, a City record, and City’s route to goal under Maresca runs through him at the far post. Maguire and Martinez are the pair that defends that. Dalot sat on the bench on Thursday, which reads as rest for Sunday, the same as Tielemans coming off at half-time.

The case against is the one Thursday made. Carrick changed three of the four against Sabah, Yoro for Maguire, Mazraoui for Dalot, Dorgu for Shaw, and Lammens didn’t make a save. Yoro’s pace is the answer if Carrick wants to match Haaland in behind rather than in the air, and it wouldn’t be a surprise. Shaw is the doubt: Carrick said the club “didn’t want to take any risks” with a cramp issue on Thursday and would assess him before the game. If he starts it’s his 300th Premier League appearance. If he doesn’t, Dorgu plays, and his cut-back for the opening goal on Thursday was the first assist by a United left-back this season.

Tielemans and Mainoo, with Santos on the bench

Youri Tielemans has started every league game, and on Thursday he was kept in where every predicted side had Andrey Santos, then taken off at half-time with the game won. That’s a player rested for Sunday, not dropped. His pass for Bruno’s goal was the second of the night and he has been the deepest, cleanest passer in the side since August. Kobbie Mainoo made 15 defensive contributions at Everton, the most on the pitch, scored the winner against City in the 2024 FA Cup final, and told the programme this week that it’s “always been the biggest game”. Santos and Mount are the changes if the legs go after 60.

The job for the pair is specific. City under Maresca drop Elliot Anderson to be the deepest midfielder, push Gvardiol inside from left-back and tuck Khusanov in to make a back three, all of it to get Rayan Cherki close to Haaland. Mainoo picks up Cherki between the lines; Tielemans sits in front of the back four and takes the ball off Lammens. Neither has to win a duel with Anderson, they have to make his 143 passes go sideways.

Bruno at ten, because there is no version of this without him

Seven goal involvements in his last ten against City, four goals this season, every one at Old Trafford in the last two home games. The limping video is the one selection worry we can’t argue away, only report: he played every minute on Thursday, scored, and Carrick’s answer on Friday was about substitutes, not fitness. If he can’t go, Mount is the ten and this becomes a different piece. If he can, he starts, and the space City leave behind their inverted full-backs is his to find.

Rashford left, Mbeumo right, Sesko through the middle

This is the one change, and it’s the argument for pace over control. Cunha scored on Thursday and did nothing wrong. Rashford was Player of the Match at Everton before the muscle problem took him off at 70, and Carrick rested him on Thursday “to keep Marcus fresh and ready for the weekend”, which is a manager telling you his plan. If he starts it’s his 23rd game against City, which makes them his most-faced opponent, and a goal would be his seventh in derbies, level with Scholes and Viollet.

The tactical case is simple. When Gvardiol has stepped into midfield and Khusanov has tucked inside, the ground behind them belongs to whoever runs into it first. Against Coventry it took a long throw to make City defend it. Rashford and Mbeumo running it from the first minute is the point of picking them. Mbeumo scored in the January derby, has scored in each of the last two league games and played Sesko in for the third goal on Thursday. Benjamin Sesko has two in two, ran the channels for 64 minutes on his first start since May and came off with the game won. He’s fit, which for most of August was the question.

Cunha to the bench is the cost. He’s the first change if the game needs holding rather than running, and he can come on for Rashford at 65 the way Rashford came off at Everton.

What we’d expect to see

A 4-2-3-1 that becomes a 4-4-2 without the ball, Rashford and Mbeumo dropping to the full-backs’ shoulders, Bruno on Anderson. With it, two wingers high and wide against a back three with no wide defenders, and Sesko occupying Dias and Guehi so Bruno arrives late. Nine wins in ten at Old Trafford under Carrick, and a win makes him the third United manager to win his first two league derbies, after Albut in 1895 and Bentley in 1913. Opta gives City 44.2% and United 31.6%. The eleven above is the version of United that makes those numbers wrong. It finished 0-1 to ten-man City; the report is here.

The fitness list in full

• Out: Amad (ankle), Baleba (ankle), Ugarte (knee), de Ligt (back), Heaton (hamstring).
• Doubt: Shaw (cramp; assessed before the game). If he’s out, Dorgu.
• Watch: Rashford (came off at 70 at Everton, rested Thursday, trained); Fernandes (limping video, no injury named, “fine” per Carrick).
• Line-ups: confirmed and published here: Shaw not in the squad, Dorgu starts, Cunha over Sesko, Rashford and Bruno both start.

How to watch in the United States

• Kick-off: Sunday 13 September, 11:30 AM Eastern, 8:30 AM Pacific.
• TV and streaming: Peacock, NBC Sports Network, and Telemundo in Spanish.
• The full history of the fixture, and the US watch guide for the rest of the season. Every kick-off is in Eastern time on the schedule page.

Sources: Thursday’s team and result from our own confirmed line-ups and match report (SofaScore and FotMob feeds). Injury list and Shaw’s status from Yahoo Sports — Manchester United vs Manchester City predicted lineup and team news; Carrick’s Rashford and Fernandes comments from Friday’s press conference as reported in our Bruno piece. City’s shape, Anderson’s 143 passes, Rashford’s and Bruno’s derby numbers and Carrick’s home record from United’s derby programme (United Review, 13 September 2026). Opta probabilities via Al Jazeera. US broadcast from NBC Sports. Written before the team sheets; accurate as of the morning of 13 September 2026.