CHERKI'S THE MEAL DEAL

City ace tasty for lunchtime derby treat

- by ALEX HANKIN

CHEW on some prime Cherki for what looks like shaping into an all-you-can-eat Manchester Derby this lunchtime.

Etihad import Rayan Cherki has put in some truly mouthwatering first-season performances and can tear strips off a United defence (12.30pm) that has conceded more Prem goals than any other top-half side.

Goals all round is on the menu with the bonus news for starters that Bruno Fernandes is NOT planning to leave Old Trafford this month according to reports from ‘sources close:

No great surprise there, surely? If nothing else, Manchester in January is something not to be missed if your tastes run to long wet nights and short wet days.

The forecast for interim boss Michael Carrick is more mixed after Oliver Glasner’s candidacy got a major boost last night - the Palace gaffer is as short as Evens to be in the Old Trafford chair for the start of 2026-27.

Feels short, given how United’s patented Random Decision Generator just waited until Ruben Amorim was aciually doing well before coughing up a chit to sack him.

Dedicated followers of the Old Trafford chaos algorithm will have noted that Sam Allardyce is 125-1.