Kobbie Mainoo has bounced back from a bruising World Cup, where England reached the semi-finals but the Manchester United midfielder failed to play a single minute under Thomas Tuchel, to become a central figure for his club as they prepare for Sunday's Manchester derby. Despite the FA's suggestion of an unspecified injury and being overlooked in favour of players such as Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham, Mainoo has shown his resilience by returning to form for United under new manager Michael Carrick, making him indispensable heading into the fixture against City.

Since starting the season as a substitute in a damaging defeat at Hull, the 21-year-old has excelled in each subsequent match against Ipswich, Everton and Sabah, despite United spending £155m on midfield reinforcements including Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba. His statistics underline his importance: 201 of 211 attempted passes completed over his last three games, alongside a game-high 15 defensive contributions against Ipswich and Everton, as he continues to improve his defensive game. This form follows a similarly difficult spell under previous manager Ruben Amorim, who never started him in the Premier League last season before Carrick handed him his first league start of the campaign against Manchester City in January.