Pep Guardiola explains why Jack Grealish was benched for Man City vs Man United

Man United vs Man City

Manchester City face a trip to Old Trafford in Saturday’s early Premier League fixture.

Pep Guardiola’s side have had a solid, if unspectacular, start to the 2021/22 campaign.

The Sky Blues would fall to a rather shocking 2-0 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace last time out.

This saw City remain 3^rd in the Premier League table, five points off table-topping Chelsea, and only three points above Manchester United, who sit 5^th.

Granted, Guardiola and co. have had a tough start to the campaign, having already had to face Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Leicester.

And though Man United have struggled this term, with a win for City looking likely this weekend, Guardiola is no doubt aware of the poor record that he boasts against the Red Devils of late.

The Spaniard has secured a win in just one of the last five meetings between the two sides in all competitions, and you have to go all the way back to April of 2019 to find the last time that City beat their cross-town rivals in the league.

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Why Jack Grealish is not starting for Man City vs Man United

Ahead of the game, Man City would release their starting line-up an hour before kick-off.

It was a pretty standard eleven from Pep, though one noticeable omission from the side was Jack Grealish, who was dropped to the bench for one of the first times since his move to Manchester:

Your derby day line-up! 🔵🔴

XI | Ederson, Walker, Dias, Stones, Cancelo, Rodrigo, Gundogan (C), Bernardo, De Bruyne, Jesus, Foden

SUBS | Steffen, Carson, Ake, Sterling, Grealish, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Mahrez, Palmer#ManCity | @HaysTechnology pic.twitter.com/OmTbxgVcUq

— Manchester City (@ManCity) November 6, 2021

Now though, Pep Guardiola has offered a fairly simple explanation for Grealish being dropped, stating:

“It’s simple. We want a left foot on the left side and right foot on right side.”

Jack Grealish on the bench in Manchester derby. Pep Guardiola explains why to Sky Sports: “It’s simple. We want a left foot on the left side and right foot on right side”. 🔵🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #MCFC @_joebray

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 6, 2021

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