Marmoush out of Manchester derby: What his injury means for Man City against Man Utd (very little)
Manchester City have confirmed that Omar Marmoush will miss Sunday’s derby against Manchester United after sustaining a knee injury whilst on international duty with Egypt.
Pep Guardiola’s side confirmed in a statement on Wednesday afternoon that Marmoush will not be available for the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium.
A club statement read: ‘Manchester City FC can confirm that Omar Marmoush has sustained a knee injury whilst on international duty with Egypt.
‘The City striker suffered the injury in the early stages of Egypt’s World Cup qualifying match with Burkina Faso on Tuesday evening.
‘Initial results on a scan performed in Egypt indicate he will not be available for the Manchester derby on Sunday, and he will now return to Manchester for more assessment and to begin his rehabilitation.
‘Everyone at City wishes Omar a speedy recovery.’
The extent of the issue is not disclosed, but whenever you see it’s a knee injury, you can’t help but fear the worst.
Losing a player of Marmoush’s quality should be a blow to any team, but thankfully for Guardiola, he has plenty of options in attack and the Egyptian wasn’t even guaranteed to start against United.
Erling Haaland and Marmoush are the only players listed as ‘forwards’ on the Man City website, which indicates that they’re viewed as strikers and not wingers, which is obviously the case with the former, while the latter has more versatility.
On matchday one against Wolves, Guardiola’s front three was Oscar Bobb, Jeremy Doku and Haaland, while Bernardo Silva, who is capable of playing wide, was in a midfield three.
Despite winning 4-0 at Molineux, the Spanish manager switched things up for the visit of Tottenham, starting Haaland up front by himself in a 4-1-4-1, with Marmoush and Bobb out wide.
Spurs won 2-0, which led to further changes for City’s trip to Brighton, mainly in shape, but not attacking personnel as Marmoush played left wing, Bobb was on the right with Haaland through the middle.
Judging by the first three matches of 2025/25, Marmoush is Guardiola’s preferred option on the left, which means Doku is the most likely to start against Ruben Amorim’s men.
However, Savinho and Phil Foden could also be in contention, with Bobb capable of moving over to accommodate one of those two players.
Foden has only played 15 minutes this season as he continues to be hampered by an ankle problem, while Savinho hasn’t been included in a matchday squad amid transfer interest from Spurs.
Guardiola has told reporters that the Brazilian has been dealing with a knock suffered in pre-season, but we’re not convinced.
If the Spaniard, for whatever reason, wants my opinion: Bobb should start on the left and Foden on the right. Young Phil loves a goal against United after all.
If Foden isn’t fit enough to start, it has to be the same front three that smashed Wolves to pieces: Bobb, Haaland, Doku.
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