When Manchester City visits Old Trafford in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, Manchester United will be bidding to extend their winning streak to nine games in a row in all competitions. United made it eight victories in a row when they beat Charlton Athletic 3-0 on Tuesday to advance to the semi-finals of the EFL Cup. The Red Devils are currently sitting fourth in the Premier League which is just four points behind second-placed Manchester City. It is worth noting that Guardiola has won nine out of 17 meetings with United since replacing Manuel Pellegrini in 2016, losing six. Additionally, the Spaniard has finished ahead of the Red Devils in all of his six seasons in charge at City. The fourth United manager he has faced over that period is Erik ten Hag. All of them have been defeated by Guardiola, most recently the Dutchman in an impressive 6-3 win at Etihad Stadium in October. However, since then, United has only lost seven points in 10 Premier League fixtures, and their current winning streak of four games is their best since March 2021.

"I would like to arrive against United with the average of minutes in the legs of the players quite similar because I have a few ideas, thoughts, ridiculous ones against United." This is what Guardiola had to say when he was asked about the upcoming match against United. The idea of Guardiola coming up with something "ridiculous" conjures up all kinds of ideas, which, if implemented, feeds the narrative that he over-thinks some high-profile games, sometimes to the detriment of his own team. The most glaring example was City's loss to Lyon in the 2020 Champions League quarterfinal, which they were heavily favored to win in a one-off match. Guardiola had converted to a 3-5-2 shape to counter the speed of Lyon, who had defeated the Blues earlier in the competition.

Guardiola did not go into detail about his plans for the match against United on Saturday, but he did observe that his players were exhausted in practice following last week's Premier League victory against Chelsea. "I don't have a clear line-up against United," he said. "I didn't watch their last games. I have to see the way they play at home and if they change something."