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‘Perfect’ Man Utd claim made by pundit ahead of Man City clash - good news for Liverpool
MANCHESTER UNITED’s visit of rivals Manchester City in the derby in mid-week is the “perfect” game for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side to have next.
That’s according to Leon Osman.
Osman’s former club Everton dealt a stinging blow to Manchester United yesterday with the Red Devils on the end of a woeful 4-0 thrashing at Goodison Park.
Richarlison, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Lucas Digne and Theo Walcott helped the Toffees seal a result which saw United miss out on a chance to move up to third with just four games remaining.
The Red Devils have a short turnaround between now and their next Premier League match, however, with neighbours and title contenders Manchester City making the short trip to Old Trafford on Wednesday night (8pm).
City are on a 10-match winning streak in the top flight as they seek to become the first team to retain the title since United in 2008-09.
Pep Guardiola’s men have to win to move above Liverpool, with the Reds on 88 points and City two behind as the Merseyside club chase a first championship in 29 years.
Liverpool therefore need arch rivals United to do them a favour with City otherwise set to finish a point above them if they both win all of their remaining games between now and May 12.
The Manchester derby has been eyed as City’s toughest outing but United have now lost six of their last eight across all competitions with the resurgence that coincided with Solskjaer’s return to the club having subsided.
It’s a game that doesn’t need any kind of build-up
But Osman believes that while City are in tremendous form, they are the perfect opposition for United to have next because of the meaning of their rivalry.
It has been claimed that United might prefer City to win the league over Liverpool, who have gone so long without a much-craved title triumph and have often been reminded of such by Red Devils fans, but Osman thinks Solskjaer will “get a reaction” from his squad regardless of the game’s implications on the outcome of the title race.
He told Malaysian broadcaster Stadium Astro: “I will say that’s probably the perfect game to come up after a performance like that because it’s a derby.
“It’s a game that doesn’t need any kind of build-up.
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“He shouldn’t need to raise the performances of any of his players to go out there and get that.
“He should get a natural reaction and he should get the hype of the derby.
“Can he pick the right team tactically?
“If this was Fulham at home, no disrespect, that would be difficult to get a reaction but not for the Manchester derby.
City boast a strong derby record at Old Trafford in recent years, losing just one of their last seven visits to Salford with their last away loss to United coming in April 2015.