Manchester City have been handed a timely fitness boost ahead of Sunday’s Manchester derby, with Manchester United midfielder Carlos Baleba ruled out of the meeting at Old Trafford.
According to report, the Cameroon international — who joined United from Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer despite carrying an ankle injury into pre-season — will not feature against City.
The report added that Baleba is already out of the derby and could also miss United’s following two fixtures, against Brighton and Fulham, as manager Michael Carrick opts against rushing him back before the international break.
Baleba’s absence removes a combative presence from the heart of United’s midfield just as they prepare to face a City side that has made an ideal start to life under new head coach Enzo Maresca.
The Italian, who replaced Pep Guardiola in the summer after the Spaniard’s decade-long reign ended, has won his first three league matches in charge and takes his unbeaten side to Old Trafford five points clear at the top of the table.
United looking for response after stuttering start
United, by contrast, have made a sluggish start under Carrick, winning just one of their opening three Premier League fixtures.
The Red Devils will nevertheless be targeting back-to-back wins over City, having beaten their rivals 2-0 earlier this year. The result came in Guardiola’s final visit to Old Trafford as City boss. City, however, still hold an otherwise strong record at the ground stretching back some 15 years.
Carrick had suggested Baleba might feature before the international break, but that now appears highly unlikely. The 21-year-old endured a difficult 2025-26 campaign at Brighton, where his form saw him dropped from the starting line-up on several occasions, and he is not expected to be risked while still managing the ankle problem.
Maresca downplays personal milestone
For Maresca, Sunday will be his first taste of the Manchester derby as a head coach, though he has been quick to play down the significance of the occasion on a personal level.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, the City boss said it was “very important” to get his first derby win but stressed that the bigger picture mattered more to him.
“To be honest, I’m more thinking about the team, the fans, the table,” Maresca said.
The Italian, who previously served as one of Guardiola’s assistants at the Etihad, is aiming to keep City’s perfect start to the season intact. City have finished above their neighbours in every campaign since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, and Maresca’s task now is to ensure that dominance continues into a new era at the club.
City’s summer signing Elliot Anderson, who arrived from Nottingham Forest in a big-money move, had described his new club as the “kings of Manchester” — a remark Maresca put down to the midfielder’s formative years coinciding with City’s period of supremacy in the city.
