Manchester City vs Manchester United: Kevin De Bruyne out of derby, confirms Pep Guardiola

Pablo Zabaleta will also miss the game with a foot injury

Kevin De Bruyne will miss Manchester City’s mammoth EFL Cup fourth-round derby against Manchester United on Wednesday night, Pep Guardiola has confirmed.

The Belgian has picked up a knock and won’t be risked for the game, with Barcelona to come in the Champions League next week.

Right-back Pablo Zabaleta will also miss the game with the foot injury he sustained at the Nou Camp last Wednesday, meaning Guardiola could continue his experiment of three centre-backs ahead of a packed midfield.

Guardiola also revealed that Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany are in contention to start the game at Old Trafford.

"Kevin has a knock and he cannot play. Pablo I think cannot," said Guardiola. "Vincent I think he can but I need to see training and regeneration."

Aguero was benched for the game against Barcelona as Guardiola has doubts over his positional ability but started the weekend draw to Southampton.

Kompany also started against the Saints, his first League start since the end of last season, and could also feature from the beginning against United, despite having played 78 minutes at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Considering the City captain’s injury problems it was assumed he would not be considered for the derby but injuries to the likes of Zabaleta and Bacary Sagna may have forced Guardiola’s hand.

The former Bayern Munich manager also said that Willy Caballero would start the game instead of number one Claudio Bravo, who is being rested rather than dropped, despite having made a number of high-profile mistakes since arriving from Barcelona this summer.