Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes has urged his team-mates 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 in their last ten games, a run that includes just one win, and the pressure on manager Pep Guardiola has increased to unprecedented levels earlier at the Etihad Stadium. .
Fernandes, however, warned united this city they are too dangerous to be taken lightly.
“Nothing changes for us, as they are at the moment, because we have to think about ourselves,” explained Fernandes. “We know it’s City, a big derby. We know what it means to the fans, and it means a lot to us too, so we just have to go into the game and win without thinking about who’s ahead.
“We all know this is a huge game and they have huge players. They probably won’t win as much as everyone would expect. But it doesn’t matter what momentum they’re in. We have to think about ourselves, what can we do to hurt them for win the game, and that’s it.”
United captain Fernandes insisted the players must prioritize the idea of ​​getting three points, rather than getting carried away in the quest to inflict more misery on an opponent.
“It’s not to get the result at the Etihad, it’s 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’ll try to win in the same way.
“We have to focus on ourselves because we’re not at the level we want to be as well, so we can’t think about other people’s drive.
“We just have to think about ourselves and do the work we have to do to get better positions. We need points in the league, so it doesn’t matter who we play.”
