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With no Sergio Aguero and no David Silva, I am not really tempted to tip Manchester City to win.
But what teams can generally do when they go to Old Trafford is negate United, because Louis van Gaal does not send his players pouring forward playing urgent attacking football.

Minus his main men, I think City boss Manuel Pellegrini would take a draw if you offered it to him before kick-off.
Van Gaal is not going to change the way United play, so we know what to expect from them, and he would probably take a point now too.

Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Paul's prediction: If Vincent Kompany is unfit or does not play, then United will win. If he plays, there is no hole in the City defence and it is a totally different game, but we will just have to see. 2-1

I don't see United losing this one. City are just too open for my liking and tactically naive at times. They just go all-out attack, which is fine against lesser teams, but United will be solid and could then pick them off. United had the biggest result last weekend winning at Everton in the manner they did after their thumping at Arsenal.

If United win this they are big players in the Premier League title race. Kevin de Bruyne is different gravy and United will have to keep him quiet, he has been outstanding. Other than him I don't see how City hurt can United without Sergio Aguero and David Silva and I think United will just win the game, although a draw wouldn't surprise me.

PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1

Manchester City are my tip to win the title this year because I think they have got the strongest group in the Premier League.

Kevin de Bruyne is a great signing for them and will only get better and, even though David Silva and Sergio Aguero are huge misses, I still fancy them to win this game.

I'm a fan of Wilfried Bony, who has now been at the club for 10 months and his career hasn't really started there. If he gets a run of games he will do very well for City; he's no Aguero, but he's a very clever player who would be a regular starter in almost all of the other Premier League teams.

I think Manchester United have surprised themselves with their league position because they haven't been playing great football. To their credit, they have been digging results out and the manager and his staff will be saying 'just wait until we start playing well'.

They have shown a dogged determination and desire to win games without playing the kind of football you normally associate with Man United. It has been a bit of a grind for them and if they continue to show that never-say-die between now and the end of the season then of course they are title challengers.

However, I feel that City, with the outstanding quality they have in every position, are better equipped than anyone else this year.

Of course, in a derby game you never know but I like to attach some logic to football like this: if you were to pick a team from the 22 players that start, how many Man United players would get into that team?

Even with Aguero and Silva injured there wouldn't be many…

Hutch's Shoulder wrote:Lawro could be right with his draw.

No idea why Merson thinks KDB is 'different gravy'.