Pep Guardiola: We are not scared of Manchester United

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said Old Trafford is no longer a "scary" place to visit ahead of tonight's derby at the home of Manchester United. Victory for City will keep the reigning champions on course to become the first team in English football history to win a treble of all three major domestic trophies in the same season.

City boast an impressive run of five wins and a draw in their last seven league visits to Old Trafford — a sequence that includes 6-1 and 3-0 victories. Guardiola, however, refused to use that form guide as a reason for confidence, although he accepted a trip to Old Trafford was not as daunting as in previous years. "I don't make theories about what happened in the past for what is going to happen in the future," Guardiola told reporters yesterday. "Every game is completely different.

Pep Guardiola

The reason why is the fact this club in the last decade grew a lot and it is not scary to go there. Before it was maybe more difficult. The players Manchester City had in the last decade made this game a little bit more equal."

Man City can move one point clear of title rivals Liverpool at the top of the table heading into their final three games of the season with victory over United. This latest derby takes place against the backdrop of United's woeful 4-0 loss away to Everton on Sunday.

Guardiola, however, did not expect the Goodison Park performance to have a major bearing on the derby. "A little bit, yeah but even a good result, the confidence will be higher," said Guardiola when asked if United's defeat by Everton made his task harder. "It is a derby and all the times we play against United, the derbies are always special games and the players do their best for the fans, the club."

City's De Bruyne out of Manchester derby

Manchester: Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne has been ruled out of tonight's Manchester derby at Old Trafford by manager Pep Guardiola. The Belgium midfielder suffered the latest of several injuries this season when he was forced off in the champions' EPL win at home to Tottenham on Saturday. "It is a muscular problem. We will see in the next days but tomorrow he is not available," Guardiola said.

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