Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli is available again for tonight's crunch Barclays Premier League derby against Manchester United.

The Italian has served a three-match ban for his sending-off at Arsenal earlier this month but it remains to be seen whether he will be recalled given the form of Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez.

Defender Micah Richards (hamstring) is fit again after missing last week's win at Wolves.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson must decide whether to make changes.

Full-back Rafael would appear to be at the most risk of losing his place from the team that threw away a two-goal lead in the final seven minutes of last Sunday's encounter with Everton.

Phil Jones and Chris Smalling could both step in, while Ferguson may also opt to reinforce his midfield with either Ryan Giggs, Tom Cleverley or Park Ji-sung at the expense of a wide player or Danny Welbeck.

Teams:

Manchester City (from): Hart, Pantilimon, Richards, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Savic, K Toure, Kolarov, Clichy, Milner, Johnson, Nasri, De Jong, Barry, Y Toure, Pizarro, Silva, Balotelli, Aguero, Tevez, Dzeko.

Manchester United (from): De Gea, Amos, Rafael, Jones, Smalling, Ferdinand, Evans, Fabio, Evra, Valencia, Nani, Park, Scholes, Cleverley, Carrick, Giggs, Young, Rooney, Welbeck, Hernandez, Berbatov, Owen.