Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes has urged his teammates not to get caught up in the narrative surrounding Manchester City’s miserable run of form ahead of Sunday’s derby.
City head into the 195th meeting between the two sides on a run of seven defeats from their last ten games – a stretch which includes just one win – and the pressure on manager Pep Guardiola has been ramped up to heights never seen before at the Etihad Stadium.
Fernandes, however, warned United that City are far too dangerous to be taken lightly.
« It doesn’t change nothing for us, how they are in this moment, because we have to think about ourselves, » Fernandes explained. « We know it’s City, a huge derby. We know what it means for the fans, and it means a lot for us too, so we just have to go to the game and win without thinking who we have ahead.
« We all know that this is a huge game and they have huge players. They’re probably not winning as much as everyone would expect them to do. But it doesn’t matter the momentum they are in. We have to think about ourselves, what we can do to hurt them to win the game, and that’s all. »
United captain Fernandes insisted the players must prioritise the idea of picking up three points, rather than get swept up in the quest to inflict further misery on a rival.
« It’s not to get the result at the Etihad, it is to try to win games, » he said. « That’s what we want to improve. Obviously we play City and we want to win the game. But it doesn’t matter if it was another game, we will try to win in the same way.
« We have to focus on ourselves because we’re not being at the level we want to be also, so we can’t think about the momentum of the others.
« We just have to think about ourselves and do the job we have to do to get in better positions. We need points in the league, so it doesn’t matter who we play against. »
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