Marcus Rashford targets goal against Manchester City at Old Trafford
Manchester United's Marcus Rashford dreams of continuing his remarkable year by netting against rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford.
In eight months the 18-year-old has gone from relatively unknown academy prospect to become one of the most feted young players in world football and hero of the Stretford End.
Few could have foreseen Rashford's debut brace in February's 5-1 Europa League win against FC Midtjylland and certainly not the way that form continued, swiftly going onto represent England and net 12 goals in all for his club.
Wednesday offers the chance to improve that tally and score a dream United goal when City arrive for a fascinatingly-poised EFL Cup last-16 clash.
Asked what his dream goal would be, Rashford said: "It would be a home goal against City, definitely.
"Scoring away was a massive moment as well for me, so I can only imagine what a home goal would be like."
United will need a solid team display when City arrive - certainly more than Mourinho's men could muster in Sunday's 4-0 humiliation at Chelsea.
Rashford was involved at Stamford Bridge just as he was in setting up Wednesday's derby clash, with his tireless work against Northampton spooking the goalkeeper and allowing him to wrap up a 3-1 win.
Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Morgan Schneiderlin, Michael Carrick and Memphis Depay were among those to get rare run outs at Sixfields and are pushing for another shot on Wednesday.
Pep Guardiola has reasserted his faith in Sergio Aguero in an attempt to clear up any confusion over the prolific striker's future at Manchester City.
Guardiola's decision to leave Aguero out of his starting line-up to face Barcelona in the Champions League last week has been interpreted in some quarters as an indication of a lukewarm attitude towards the Argentinian.
But the City manager, who restored Aguero to the side in Sunday's draw against Southampton, insisted then the 28-year-old was an important part of his plans and now he has underlined the point.
Aguero has scored 11 goals this season and 147 for the club since his arrival from Atletico Madrid in 2011.
Speaking at a press conference, Guardiola said: "I want to be clear again. I am so happy with Sergio and hopefully he can stay for a long time here. I want from deep in my heart he can stay here and play with us.
"He is a special player, he is a striker who scores millions of goals in his career. I know for strikers it depends on the moment, but we cannot forget how many goals he scores for us."
Guardiola is yet to decide whether Aguero will feature against Manchester United as he balances the temptation to rest players with the need to win.
City, after opening their campaign with 10 successive wins, have hit a sticky patch having failed to win in any of their last five.
Guardiola said: "We are going to rotate. Some of them who didn't play are going to play for sure, first because they deserve it and second because it was tough in last games. People are tired.
"But I still haven't decided because I need to see the players in the training session."
Ordinarily young players such as Aleix Garcia, Angelino, Tosin Adarabioyo and Pablo Maffeo would also come into the reckoning but Guardiola has suggested the majority of changes will be among senior players.
Source: PA
