MANCHESTER, England – People recollect the 2022 Manchester derby, in which Man City defeated United 6-3.  Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, claims to have a “ridiculous” plan for defeating Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday. 

With four points more than their former opponents in fourth place, City enters the game in second place in the Premier League. 

Since taking over for Manuel Pellegrini in 2016, Guardiola has won nine of the team’s last 17 encounters with United while losing six. 

In each of his six seasons as City’s manager, the Spaniard has finished ahead of the Red Devils.

Erik ten Hag is the fourth United manager he has faced during that time. Guardiola has overcome all of them, most notably the Dutchman in a stunning 6-3 victory at Etihad Stadium in October. 

However, United has only dropped seven points in its last ten Premier League games, and its current run of four victories is their longest since March 2021. 

It suggests that Guardiola would pick City’s starting lineup carefully for Wednesday’s EFL Cup match against Southampton. 

“Because I have some insane notions and beliefs about United”, he said, “I would love to arrive facing United with the average of minutes in the legs of the players reasonably comparable.”

Several theories that, if put into practice, would confirm the argument that Guardiola occasionally overthinks crucial matches to the detriment of his own side conjure up the idea that he might come up with anything “crazy” when the idea of Guardiola is raised. 

The most egregious instance was City’s defeat against Lyon in the 2020 Champions League quarterfinal, a game they were widely favored to win. In order to combat Lyon’s speed, who had earlier in the competition upset the Blues, Guardiola switched to a 3-5-2 formation. 

Guardiola was asked about it in April of last year before the first leg of City’s Champions League quarterfinal match against Atletico Madrid, which they ultimately won.

The satirical response at the time was, “I overthink a lot. I love to overthink and develop silly strategies again. Tonight I will produce inspiration and execute wonderful tactics. We play with 12.” 

Guardiola did not elaborate on his game strategy versus United on Saturday, but he did note that his players appeared fatigued in practice after last week’s Premier League triumph over Chelsea. 

I don’t have a clear line-up against United, he said, and I have to watch how they play at home and see if they make any adjustments. I missed their most recent games.