Gundogan and Stones return to City starting XI as Jesus get the nod up front

First plays third in this afternoon’s Manchester derby, although the chasm between City and United is wider than a mere two places suggests.

Pep Guardiola’s side are on a 21-game winning run in all competitions, with 15 of those victories coming in the Premier League.

They are 14 points ahead of United going into today’s clash at the Etihad, where the action gets underway at 16:30 GMT.

Guardiola has made three changes for the derby, with John Stones (£5.3m), Ilkay Gündogan (£6.2m) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (£5.5m) unsurprisingly back in the starting XI after their midweek benchings.

Aymeric Laporte (£6.0m), Bernardo Silva (£7.4m) and Kyle Walker (£6.1m) make way, while Phil Foden (£6.1m) is a substitute yet again.

There’s no ‘false nine’ for this encounter, with Gabriel Jesus (£9.2m) spearheading a three-man attack.

There are four changes for Manchester United, meanwhile.

Anthony Martial (£8.7m) has returned from injury and replaces the absent Edinson Cavani (£7.9m), while there are also starts for Daniel James (£6.2m), Victor Lindelof (£4.8m) and Scott McTominay (£4.9m).

Mason Greenwood (£7.0m), Eric Bailly (£4.8m) and Nemanja Matic (£4.7m) drop out.

David de Gea (£5.3m) is still absent for personal reasons, so Dean Henderson (£5.2m) continues between the posts.

Manchester City XI: Ederson, Joao Cancelo, Dias, Stones, Zinchenko, Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus, Sterling.

Manchester United XI: Henderson, Wan Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, McTominay, Fred, James, Bruno Fernandes, Rashford, Martial.

DOUBLE GAMEWEEK 27 SO FAR…

Liverpool’s sunk to new depths on Sunday, slumping to a sixth straight home defeat.

An ever-improving Fulham side were the latest victors at Anfield, with Mario Lemina (£4.5m) taking advantage of the Reds’ inability to clear a set piece by lashing home the only goal of the game just before the interval.

It’s now just one clean sheet this calendar year for the Reds, while Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) has blanked on 11 occasions in his last 14 appearances.

And we couldn’t even count on starts for our Liverpool assets on Sunday, with Klopp responding to a jaded-looking display against Chelsea and a swift turnaround between games by making seven changes to his starting XI.

Sadio Mane (£11.8m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.4m) were among the players benched, with Roberto Firmino (£9.2m) missing out through injury.

Three of the Reds’ ropey-looking backline cost £4.0m or less in FPL, while the motley crew of regulars and fringe players further forward failed to register a single big chance.

As for the Cottagers, this was yet another superb defensive display led by the excellent centre-half duo of Joachim Andersen (£4.5m) and Tosin Adarabioyo (£4.5m) – both of whom deservedly picked up bonus points.

Scott Parker’s side have now kept six clean sheets in their last eight.

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