Manchester United and Manchester City will meet for the first time this season in the Premier League
Man City vs Man United
The Manchester derby will be played this Sunday
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Michael Carrick is dealing with a number of injuries ahead of Sunday's Manchester derby against Manchester City at Old Trafford (4:30pm BST). The sides meet for the first time this season, with United's cross‑city rivals yet to lose a match.
It will be a notable occasion for Carrick, who reaches eight months in charge of United and returns to the fixture that effectively launched his journey that ultimately secured the head‑coach role permanently. United head into the derby off a 4-0 Champions League win over Sabah and a 2-2 Premier League draw at Everton.
City, meanwhile, beat FC Porto 2-0 in Europe and claimed a 1-0 victory over Coventry City at the Etihad last weekend. Both teams have injury concerns, though City are expected to welcome back Nico O'Reilly, leaving Jeremy Doku as their only absentee.
For the hosts, Luke Shaw is a doubt for the match, with Carrick revealing he was given an extra recovery day on Thursday. United have leaned heavily on the 31‑year‑old despite his previous rocky injury record.
"We just gave him an extra recovery day today," Carrick said in his press conference. "We'll see by tomorrow [Friday] how he is, but it's not an ongoing thing or part of a plan.
"It was simply off the back of the game the other day. Each individual has different little things we manage, and Luke was one of them today."
Marcus Rashford trained on Wednesday after going off early against Everton and was an unused substitute against Sabah, but Matthijs de Ligt was absent, along with fellow sidelined players Amad, Manuel Ugarte, Tom Heaton and Carlos Baleba.
De Ligt hasn't featured since late November and, after undergoing back surgery in May, United are continuing to carefully manage his return.
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"It's positive. Matta has trained really well," Carrick added. "When you're out for such a long period and you get to the final stages, you push and push, and you've got to manage that last step. It's important.
"We've got to get that balance right. He's on a good track, in a good place, and it's great to have him back around us - hopefully it'll be sometime soon."
As previously mentioned, Maresca will again be without Doku, while Nico O'Reilly, who pulled out of the Coventry warm‑up last week, is now "100% available".
Doku has not played since the Community Shield after feeling tightness in his calf during the first half against Arsenal. The injury was not deemed serious, but it has still kept him out of the opening four matches of the season, with Maresca saying he 'needs more days.'