Rio Ferdinand was excused the Champions League trip to Romania in midweek but is available for the derby and could partner skipper Nemanja Vidic for the first time since the opening day of the season. Rafael (shoulder) is still sidelined, but Tom Cleverley (foot) is due to return to training on Monday. Manchester City have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the game and welcome back Mario Balotelli, who was suspended for the midweek Champions League clash with Villarreal. Owen Hargreaves, who made his league debut for City last week, will be assessed in a practice match before the game against his former club. Carlos Tevez is highly unlikely to be involved. Manchester United (from): De Gea, Lindegaard, Amos, Smalling, Fabio, Evans, Ferdinand, Vidic, Jones, Evra, Valencia, Nani, Anderson, Carrick, Fletcher, Giggs, Park, Young, Berbatov, Diouf, Hernandez, Owen, Rooney, Welbeck. Manchester City (from): Hart, Kompany, Richards, Kolarov, Lescott, Savic, Clichy, Zabaleta, K Toure, Nasri, Hargreaves, Johnson, Y Toure, De Jong, Milner, Barry, Silva, Balotelli, Dzeko, Aguero, Pantilimon.
