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The Manchester United fanbase is looking forward to the Derby with nervous excitement.
The form book says United have only lost one of their last six, but the mood around the club is the true indicator of the position and that doesn’t seem promising at the moment.
On the other hand, Manchester City come into the game smashing six past Luton, and Erling Haaland, United’s tormentor-in-chief previously, bagging five of those.
Still, Pep Guardiola has been eager to warn his players against any complacency as “United is United”.
Guardiola talked about United’s game this season against Liverpool, where the consensus was they would lose heavily and get handed a repeat of the 7-0 embarrassment.
What followed was a gritty display by Erik ten Hag’s men as they merited an unexpected draw at Anfield, something which Guardiola was keen to stress.
A player who will be crucial to United’s chances of matching, or optimistically, bettering that Anfield result is Bruno Fernandes.
Guardiola called Fernandes an “exceptional player”, saying that one knows something will happen if the ball is at his feet.
Noting Fernandes’ ironman ability to be available for every game, he said it is a crucial asset for any team and his players will need to be wary of him.
In a United-heavy press conference, he was finally asked about Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s comments where he praised City for their brilliant football and taking lessons from their structure.
Guardiola thanked Ratcliffe for his compliment, saying it can sometimes mean even more than titles while appreciating Ratcliffe’s honesty about where United are at the moment and where they aim to be.
Ultimately, that’s a question for the long term. In the short term, Ten Hag will be hoping to engineer an upset for the ages by beating City tomorrow.
That would be a good first step towards closing the gap, however large that might seem at the moment.
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