Going into the match, most of the pressure will be on Manchester United to get a result, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Old Trafford future still up in the air. But it must be said that they are not a long distance away from Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City this season. The gap between the two clubs is just 3 points and a win for the Red Devils will mean that they will sit on equal points with the defending Premier League champions.
That is quite incredible when you think about the start to the season Manchester United have had but that’s how fine the margins are this early on in the campaign.
Guardiola’s side have been one of the most dominant teams in Premier League history in recent years but are coming off of a defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace in their last league game. Thus, they will be even more eager to win this one.
Guardiola is not taking Manchester United lightly though despite the club’s lack of form this season. As reported by the Mirror, the Spanish manager said:
"“They have a lot of physicality, people with the ability to win games up front and good runners in behind, especially when Bruno Fernandes has the ball. They always have quality.“We’ve had some good games against them, one game when we drew was a bit boring, when the teams were a bit scared.“But they’re so good up front and now, with Cristiano Ronaldo, they are even better.”"
Manchester United need to win this game if they are to stay in the Premier League race
Manchester United already sit 8 points behind league leaders Chelsea. And if they end up losing against Manchester City, there is a possibility that the gap could extend to 11 points.
We are still very early in the campaign and anything can happen in football. But even then, it would be quite a task to turn around a 11-point deficit over the course of the remaining season.
For now, the focus must be solely on the game against Manchester City though and not the future. It was always going to be a tough game for Solskjaer’s side and with the number of injury worries that Manchester United have at the moment, the task has become even more difficult for them.