Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, stated that their rival Manchester United possesses a fierce attack that will pose a difficult challenge for his team in the Premier League showdown on Sunday. City leads the Premier League with 66 points from 27 matches, while their rival United is in fourth place with 47 points. Despite the points difference between the two teams, Guardiola expects a competitive match on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium.
City is looking to achieve victories home and away against United after winning their last encounter 2-0 in the league in November. Guardiola told reporters on Friday, “United has experience in both attack and midfield with Pogba and Matic, and incredible energy from Fred. The center backs Varane, Maguire, and Lindelof all have experience. I expect a tough match and do not care about the 19-point gap between us. They play more fiercely in attack, and in their moments of strength, the players run on the flanks very quickly. The team has great capabilities.”
The Sunday clash will be the 50th Manchester derby in the Premier League. The City manager also praised his United counterpart Ralph Rangnick, saying, "He has done an extraordinary job in Germany... He has quickly shown some ideas here that he wants to implement."
City suffered a blow with the absence of defender Ruben Dias for four to six weeks due to a hamstring injury, while Nathan Ake will also miss the match on Sunday. Guardiola noted, "In other seasons, our best players have been out for months. I would have preferred to have Dias, but he will be absent. I won’t complain. I deal with things as they are; we have other players. We have 14 or 15 players ready. With these players, we will fight and try to play well."
