Manchester United in search of spark vs. Manchester City

Manchester United continue life after Ruben Amorim when they host derby rivals Manchester City in Saturday's early kickoff.

Amorim was dismissed from his post as manager following the Red Devils' first result of the new year, a 1-1 draw at Leeds United on Jan. 4 that made it only three wins in 11 matches.

But there has been little in terms of obvious improvement under caretaker manager Michael Carrick.

Despite a second-half brace from Benjamin Sesko, seventh-place Manchester United were held to a 2-2 draw at Burnley on Jan. 7 in their last league encounter.

Sesko scored again four days later, but the Red Devils crashed out of the FA Cup on Sunday with a 2-1 home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion.

Even so, with Manchester United (8-5-8, 32 points) entering the weekend in seventh, Carrick still is hopeful he can help the team compete for a European place. And they may have an advantage now, with only the league to focus on for the remainder of this season.

"We want to be top of the league. I mean, that's pretty obvious to say," said Carrick, who won five league titles during more than a decade as a Man U player.

"But we got to take some small steps towards that. And European football, obviously, would be a step forward, and we've got to keep pushing."

Carrick is in his second stint as a caretaker boss, having previously inhabited the role in 2021.

But City manager Pep Guardiola confesses he isn't entirely sure what to expect from Saturday's opponents as his second-place side try to close their six-point gap on league leaders Arsenal.

"When you don't have any info, you can't give any info to the players so you focus on yourself," Guardiola said Friday. "Maybe with the lineup (announced) tomorrow we will have an idea. You can see what he did at Middlesbrough or the first part at Man United, but tactics are about the players and who they have will be different to Middlesbrough. So what they are going to do I don't know."

City (13-4-4, 43 points) are coming off consecutive victories outside league play -- a 2-0 triumph at Newcastle United in Leg 1 of the EFL Cup semifinals, and a 10-1 FA Cup win over third-tier Exeter City -- but have been held to draws in their last three league meetings.

Erling Haaland's 20 league goals represent nearly half of City's total of 45. And Guardiola's back line continues to be short-handed because of injuries to John Stones, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol.

--Field Level Media