Pep Guardiola has admitted he is planning a radical tactical change after his Manchester City's side's horrible run of form.

The Premier League champions have claimed just one win in their last 10 and were beaten 2-0 by Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday.

They return to action on Sunday with a huge derby clash with Manchester United on Sunday but are without a number of first-team defenders.

With Manuel Akanji, John Stones and Nathan Ake not fit and Rico Lewis suspended, City are short of options at the back and have just Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol to call upon.

But Guardiola is known to come up with solutions out the box and in his pre-game press conference, he has named midfielder Matheus Nunes as someone who could play in defence.

He also hinted at playing with five at the back, a formation not too synonymous with the six-time Premier League winner.

Guardiola said: "Against United maybe Matheus Nunes can play as a full-back or maybe five at the back, I’m thinking…”

The Catalan has made plenty of bold calls over the years but putting Nunes as a full-back would be right up there - even if United line up with wing-backs under Ruben Amorim.

And naturally fans produced plenty of reaction to Guardiola's admission that a bizarre positional change could happen on Sunday.

One commented: "Another madness loading

A second said: "We're soo cooked."

A third added: "Weirdly enough I had a thought the other day about him playing right back..."

A fourth wrote: "Ticket going spare for Sunday."

A fifth fumed: "We need to get Pep outta here man. wtf is this."

Matheus Nunes has been tipped to play at full-back for Manchester City. Image: Getty

Guardiola has converted the likes of Fabian Delph, Fernandinho and Oleksandr Zinchenko into defenders in the past and could be about to do the same again given City's current predicament.

With so many injuries and an aging squad, City have been tipped to make new additions in the new January transfer window - with a midfielder and a striker said to be their priorities.

However, Guardiola is unsure if City will spend and simple wishes for his current players to be back fit and firing.

He stated: “I want the players that I have back! These players, not new ones. In the right moment we will see… Even with our huge revenues that doesn’t mean we have big resources to buy whoever we want…”

How to watch City vs United from home

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You can tune into the Manchester derby from the comfort of your sofa with a Fire TV Stick. Available from Amazon, the device will allow you to stream hundreds of your favourite sports games live. It’s currently available on Amazon for £44.99.

You’ll have the option to stream on Sky Sports or TNT Sports via the Fire Stick with coverage to start from 4pm. You will need to have an Amazon account and download the Prime Video app, but you do not need Prime membership.

Sky members can also upgrade to a Sky Sports+ subscription for an extra £20 a month with access to over nine channels. If you’re not yet a Sky customer, you can sign up for a Sky Sports Package here for £35 a month.