Bruno Fernandes urges United to forget Man City’s problems and focus on own form

Bruno Fernandes says Manchester United must focus on fixing their own problems ahead of the derby rather than thinking about Manchester City’s miserable recent form.

All eyes will be on the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon as Ruben Amorim looks for a statement result in his first taste of the all-Manchester clash.

The Portuguese has already masterminded a victory against City in the last six weeks after Sporting Lisbon sealed a stunning 4-1 Champions League triumph in his penultimate match before joining United.

It is among seven defeats Pep Guardiola’s stumbling side have suffered in a 10-game run that has seen just one win, but Fernandes brushed aside the suggestion that this is a good time to be facing them.

“It doesn’t change anything for us, how they are in this moment, because we have to think about ourselves,” the United skipper said.

“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 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 and we need points in the league, so it doesn’t matter who we play against.

“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.”

United make the trip to City buoyed by Thursday’s 2-1 comeback win at Viktoria Plzen, where substitute Rasmus Hojlund’s double sealed a much-needed Europa League victory.

Amorim’s changes helped overcome a poor start in the Czech Republic but a giant step-up