Match Preview: Man City vs Man United

The Derby is here! This is the only game where form goes out of the window and you simply play to win. There's much more at stake than just three points when it comes to bitter rivalries.

This Thursday at 10:00 PM, make a date at the Etihad Stadium, for a blockbuster encounter as we tackle the ever noisy neighbours.

We hope they'll be able to fill their stadium this time round although we won't care, but I'd prefer beating them in their full house!

The match will be live on Sky Sports 1 in the UK but of of course you don't have to be in Europe, here is a site you'll access the Sky Sports, BT Sport and hundreds of other channels (http://cricfree.sc/football-live-stream) remember to help a friend out...

So indeed, it's a chance to break into the top four, sure if we win we'll leapfrog the Citizens with only 6 games remaining.

The professional win against Burnley on Sunday has the whole squad in high spirits especially stretching our unbeaten run to 23 games, the longest in all of the European major leagues.

We have even forgotten how defeat tastes like having not lost a league game in six months.

City are coming to this game on the back of a bitter defeat in the hands of fellow noisy peers Arsenal at Wembley in the FA Cup semifinals so we'll go there fully expecting a backlash.

Any early team news? Sure there is...

We know Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo are definitely out with longterm knee ligament injuries joining Juan Mata, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones in the treatment room.

One man is set to return: Antonio Valencia. The current best right back in the league was rested against Burnley after accumulating so many matches this season.

Jose Mourinho is still unsure if Paul Pogba will make it after coming off injured at Burnley with what appeared like a hamstring strain.

The boss made 8 changes at Burnley and he could make more in the derby, keeping in mind we play Swansea City just three days later and the first leg of the Europa League semifinals away at Celta Vigo next week.

Anthony Martial deserves another run out after his match winning performance at Burnley. Marcus Rashford should also start having won us the game last time we visited Etihad in the league.

With those two starting upfront alongside Mkhitaryan, with that raw pace, I can only see us sending City defenders to retirement!

Wayne Rooney also deserves to play tomorrow having scored on his return to the starting lineup, mind you he's the top-scorer in Manchester derbies with 11 goals. He has 7 of those strikes at the Etihad.

For the Citizens, Sergio Aguero and David Silva are doubtful after sustaining knocks in the recent loss against Arsenal while Fernandinho, Bacary Sagna, Gabriel Jesus and John Stones also face a race to be fit.

Our head to head record is finely poised, we have won 7, drawn 1 and lost 7 so if we win tomorrow we'll also gain the overall edge and psychological momentum to tackle our remaining games.

We have already played two Manchester derbies this season, with City winning 2-1 at Old Trafford in September in a league meeting.

We didn't have to wait long for some sweet revenge as we knocked them out of the EFL Cup a month later at Old Trafford and went on to win the final.

The last time the Manchester derby was played on a Thursday, we thrashed the blues 5-0 at Old Trafford on 10th November 1994 with Andrei Kanchelskis scoring a hat-trick.

Should we avoid defeat, we'll equal our longest ever unbeaten run (24 games) set back in the 2010/2011 season.

What's the boss saying about the game?

"There is one point [between the teams] so the situation is open but Man City has to play Premier League football and we have to play in the semi-finals of a European competition.

"Yes, it’s an objective to try to finish in the top four but my feeling is that this club is made to win trophies. In the Premier League, we cannot win it.

"In the Europa League, we have a 25 per cent chance of winning it. So, I think we have to put everything into the Europa League."

Wayne Rooney also has his eyes set for the derby, "It's two great teams and it's massive for City,” Rooney said. There's a fight for the top four and we're both in the fight.“We'll be ready.”

You can also read what Ander Herrera said about tomorrows game here.