Manchester derby offers chance to salve wounds

MANCHESTER City will be desperate to avoid a third successive defeat when they face neighbours Manchester United as the Premier League returns this weekend, with Alexander Isak set for his Liverpool debut.

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City boss Pep Guardiola and United manager Ruben Amorim are both under intense pressure just three games into the season while champions Liverpool boast the top division’s only 100 percent record.

Elsewhere, following the international break, Ange Postecoglou is back in management with Nottingham Forest, just three months after he was sacked by Tottenham.

Here we look at three key talking points ahead of the weekend’s action:

Manchester derby can heal wounds

The Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium pits two troubled sides against each other, both of whom have just one win from three matches.

Manchester City’s consecutive defeats against Tottenham and Brighton have raised questions about Guardiola’s expensive overhaul of his side after last season’s third-place finish.Guardiola’s problems have hardly eased in the two weeks since City blew the lead at Brighton, with Egypt forward Omar Marmoush ruled out of tomorrow's derby with a knee injury.

Rayan Cherki and Mateo Kovacic remain sidelined and there are also questions over the fitness of John Stones, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rico Lewis, Nico O’Reilly and Abdukodir Khusanov, who all withdrew from international duty this week.