Manchester United vs. Manchester City: Teams News Ahead of Manchester Derby 2014

Manchester United welcome cross-town rivals Manchester City to Old Trafford on Tuesday for a highly important Premier League showdown.

Manuel Pellegrini's men arrive at Old Trafford in good form and knowing that a win will send them into second place, only three points behind leaders Chelsea and still with two games in hand.

David Moyes' side need the three points for entirely different reasons.

The Red Devils were humiliated by Liverpool last time out, but a win at Old Trafford and a loss for Everton, who travel to Newcastle, would see United jump a place to sixth and just a couple of points behind Tottenham.

Date: Tuesday March 25

Time: 7.45 p.m. GMT/3.45 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream Details: Sky Sports 1, SkyGO App (UK) / NBC Sports Network (US)

Team News

Jon Super/Associated Press

City captain Vincent Kompany returns from suspension to retake his place at the heart of the defence, with Joleon Lescott likely to make way for the Belgian.

Matija Nastasic is still out having not recovered from his knee problem, and in news to delight the United faithful, City's top-scorer Sergio Aguero remains on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

United are susceptible to pace in the wide areas, so we're likely to see a start for Jesus Navas on the right side of a creative forward line.

David Silva's trickery and industry will see him pulling the strings centrally, whilst Samir Nasri will have more than enough in his locker to keep Rafael from bombing forward to support the United attack.

His ability to cut inside is also likely to present significant problems for the United defence.

Alvaro Negredo has found goals hard to come by of late, so Edin Dzeko is likely to get the nod again, spearheading Pellegrini's attacking 4-2-3-1 formation.

For the home side, Robin van Persie and Nemanja Vidic are definitely unavailable and Antonio Valencia remains doubtful after picking up his eye injury against Olympiakos. 

In Monday's pre-match press conference David Moyes wasn't forthcoming on whether he would actually be able to field any centre-backs with Rio Ferdinand, Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans all missing the trip to West Ham due to varying injury complaints.

The manager noted everything was being done to have them ready for action however:

Key Storylines

Sang Tan/Associated Press

In the absence of van Persie, much of the goalscoring responsibility will fall to Wayne Rooney. After being named captain for the trip to West Ham, Moyes may well hand the armband to the striker again after being impressed with his showing in East London.

According to Chris Wheeler of the Daily Mail, Moyes noted:

"

Wayne has led by example all season but maybe he took a wee bit of pride in wearing the armband to show exactly what it means. He wants to take responsibility.

It’s for him to show it and you have to say that he showed it. You get opportunities if you’re a player out of the team who suddenly gets a chance or if you become a key player and then get the chance to wear the armband and take that on.

He did that.

"

The return of Kompany to the City defence is vital to neutralising the threat of Rooney, who would've otherwise fancied his chances against the less mobile Lescott and Martin Demichelis.

United's main source of goals may therefore have to revert to foraging in the deeper areas to cultivate any goalscoring chances.

As such, Moyes would do well to select Danny Welbeck for this one, with his pace likely to trouble the away defence all evening.

Sky Sports' Gary Neville agrees that the youngster could well be the difference:

"

You need someone that provides that different edge and Danny Welbeck provides that.

In the first game, which was terrible at Olympiakos, he made the difference and he made the difference against West Brom.

Even in the quarter-final last year against Real Madrid he was United's best player at the Bernabeu, absolutely the best player.

In games like this you need that energy and pace.

"

Of course, for Welbeck and Rooney to have any effect on this game, United's midfield will need to feed their strikers, and chances of doing just that could well be at a premium.

Both Yaya Toure and Fernandinho should dominate the central midfield exchanges.

In the reverse fixture earlier in the season, both players were the best-performing midfielders in the game according to WhoScored, with Toure also getting on the scoresheet.

Clive Mason/Getty Images

Marouane Fellaini will certainly be able to handle the more robust nature of the midfield battle, but his influence over the games he has been involved in for United this term has been debatable.

In fact, United's best chance of winning the match, and denting their rivals' title push in the process, should come if the ball can be worked into the wider areas.

Neither Toure or Fernandinho are comfortable with moving out from the central areas to cover, and with the creative talents of Juan Mata and Adnan Januzaj adept at working the spaces in between the lines, United can profit.

The match is also important for Moyes to assess the overall needs of his squad, with a view to changes in the summer.

Rivals City have proved themselves serious contenders over the last few seasons and it is that sort of level to which Moyes must aspire when shaping the future of his team.

Prediction: Manchester United 1-2 Manchester City