Aheed Abrar
Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan praises “stronger” Manchester United ahead of derby
Manchester United have been termed “stronger than ever” by Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan ahead of the derby. The Germany international feels the Sky Blues need to be at their best to beat the Red Devils.
Pep Guardiola’s team suffered a shocking loss to Southampton in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday (11 January). Our arch-rivals will now visit Old Trafford on 14 January.
Speaking after City’s loss to the Saints via Manchester Evening News, Gundogan praised United’s recent form. The 32-year-old feels City need to be much better against Erik ten Hag’s team than they were against Southampton.
“It’s never easy for confidence to lose a game before such a big derby but we got to Old Trafford. We’ve done quite well over there in recent years but it also feels like it’s a United side probably stronger than ever in the recent past.”
“They’re full of confidence and will play great football. We need a much much better performance than today.”
The Red Devils are flying high at the moment. We have won our last eight games in all competitions. The Old Trafford side have looked solid defensively and have been threatening in the final third.
United are fourth in the Premier League table at the moment. The Red Devils could go within a point of the Sky Blues with a win over Guardiola’s team next.
In the previous fixture, the Old Trafford side were still finding their bearings under the Dutch manager. The Cityzens dominated us throughout the match at Etihad Stadium as we lost 6-3.
However, it is United who have momentum going into the derby this time around. City have not looked at their best in recent fixtures. Apart from the loss to Southampton, they also dropped points against Everton recently in the league.
The title is still anybody’s at the moment. Arsenal are leading the PL table for now. However, the Gunners have a tough fixture coming up as they face Tottenham Hotspur before United travel to Emirates Stadium.
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Therefore, the next few weeks are pivotal. If Ten Hag can pull off positive results in the next few weeks, this season could have the potential to be a fruitful one for the Red Devils.
