Manuel Pellegrini's Manchester City welcome the visit of Norwich City in the Premier League on Saturday, as the Sky Blues aim to make it three wins from their last four games in the league.
As for travelling Norwich, they have lost three in a row in the English top flight and were beaten on penalties by Everton during the League Cup in midweek.
Manchester City
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Last weekend's Manchester derby perhaps presented Pellegrini with some concerns regarding the capability of his forward line without the presence of Sergio Aguero, but the City boss will be pleased with what he saw defensively away from home.
Vincent Kompany came back into the side to silence Wayne Rooney, and his return to action came alongside a standout performance from centre-back partner Nicolas Otamendi.
The club's fans will undoubtedly be happy about what they saw at the back as City were able to thwart the large majority of forward moves from United, despite a dominant possessional stance from Louis van Gaal's charges.
That defensive showing should fill the side with great confidence and they will be hopeful of getting some more change out of an out-of-form Norwich side come the weekend.
Raheem Sterling will certainly have some critics to answer following his lacklustre showings against Sevilla and United, but he did also bag a Premier League hat-trick just two fixtures ago.
Should Kevin De Bruyne and Wilfried Bony start, they too will be hoping to showcase their creative qualities after being strangled by some strong performances from United's defenders last time out.
The draw against the Red Devils pushed City back to the top of the league standings, and they will now be hoping to go on to claim six points in games against Norwich and Aston Villa, before welcoming Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool to the Etihad in a few weeks.
Recent form: WLWWWD
Recent form (all competitions): LWWWDW
Norwich City
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Life in the Premier League is arguably starting to put some serious pressure on Norwich coach Alex Neil, who has led his side to just two wins out of 10 games this term.
What will be increasingly worrying is that the Canaries have failed to pick up a point in three league contests, having suffered damaging defeats to Leicester City, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion - with two of those losses coming at Carrow Road.
Those two home defeats were at the hands of Leicester and West Brom in games that Norwich were unable to claim a goal, something that Neil will need to change if the club are to guarantee survival this season.
The League Cup did, however, showcase some positive signs of a revival as Norwich pushed Everton all the way to penalties at Goodison Park, but they will know that they will soon need points more than performances during the tough winter months.
Goals are not really the major concern just yet as Norwich have bagged 14 in 10 league fixtures, but they have also conceded a second-worst tally of 21 without managing to keep a clean sheet all season.
Norwich are set to face Chelsea and Arsenal too this month, and they will be aiming to build some sort of confidence from their showing against City, given that they host the more likely winnable visit of Swansea City next weekend.
Recent form: WDDLLL
Recent form (all competitions): DDLLLL
Team News
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Kelechi Iheanacho impressed for City in the League Cup and he will be aiming to try to displace Bony in attack.
The visitors could potentially welcome back playmaker David Silva, although his current levels of fitness are still in doubt ahead of the game on Saturday.
At the back, Pablo Zabaleta was stretchered off in midweek, possibly handing Aleksandar Kolarov the opportunity to feature at full-back.
Norwich are likely to have a relatively full squad to choose from if Dieumerci Mbokani is able to return from illness in time to make the trip to Manchester.
Neil may make some changes to his usual starting XI in light of the three straight league defeats that his side have recently suffered.
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Hart; Sagna, Kompany, Otamendi, Kolarov; Fernandinho, Toure; Sterling, Silva, Bruyne; Bony
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Ruddy; Martin, Bassong, Bennett, Olsson; Brady, Dorrans, Tettey, Redmond; Howson; Jerome
Head To Head
The last time that these two sides squared up was during the 2013-14 Premier League campaign, where City picked up a dominant 7-0 victory at home, before being held to a goalless draw at Norwich in the opposing fixture later in the season. Over their past six meetings, City have appeared the more successful of the two sides following four victories, one draw and a loss against the Canaries.
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We say: Manchester City 3-1 Norwich City
City returned to some kind of defensive form against United at Old Trafford and they will be keen to build on that draw with some impressive attacking play back on home soil. City will arguably be more confident of breaking down Norwich's defence on Saturday given the visitors' record at the back, while the rise of Iheanacho should put the required pressure on Bony, as he still aims to impress as the club's attacking spearhead while they wait for Aguero's return.
Christopher Dodd
