Prior to the international break, City completely outplayed United in a 2-0 victory at Old Trafford, where De Bruyne and his team-mates humbled their bitter rivals thanks to Eric Bailly's own goal and a Bernardo Silva effort.

Pep Guardiola's City – winner of more away Premier League games at Old Trafford than any other team (eight) – enjoyed 67.4 per cent possession and had five shots on target compared to just one for the Red Devils.

On international duty with Belgium, De Bruyne spoke about City's preparations for the Manchester derby.

"The day before a game we usually train tactically, based on how the opponent plays," De Bruyne told the MidMid podcast. "But before United, Pep said: 'We don’t know how they are going to play. We shall see'. And we stopped training after 10 minutes or so.

"Often Pep knows how the opponent is going to play. This time he didn’t know, so he didn’t know what to do.

"We have done what we always do, but he didn’t know beforehand if they would play with five at the back, or with four, or with a diamond in the middle, or with three up front."

City is second in the Premier League after 11 rounds – three points behind leading Chelsea, while United is sixth and nine points off the pace.