Graeme Souness challenges Manchester United stars to prove him wrong in derby

Graeme Souness has challenged Manchester United's stars to prove him and supporters wrong by defeating Manchester City and turning their fortunes around.

It's been a difficult start to the season for United, with any hope of challenging for the Premier League title already extinguished. Erik ten Hag's side currently sit eighth but are the lowest scorers and the only side with a negative goal difference in the top half. Injuries have ravaged the side and are a key factor to their decline, but the manager's summer signings have yet to settle and too many of last year's strong performers have struggled.

Though United have managed to win their last three games, their performances continued to be poor and it took late drama to secure the recent victories. However, Souness thinks getting a win over their city rivals is a sure way to lift the mood around the club.

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"United have really got their work cut out. The Champions League win over FC Copenhagen on Tuesday cannot disguise how poor United were for well over an hour," the Liverpool legend wrote in the Daily Mail.

"For me, Sheffield United were the better team for most of last Saturday evening’s game, too, despite their 2-1 defeat. In their heyday, United would have been saying, ‘Come on then, we’ll take you on in a goal-fest’. But those days are gone, for now at least. For United, it’s about containment,

"They will be the apprehensive team on the day, given their performances in the last couple of games. They will have to come up with a game plan, while for City it will be simply, ‘We’re going to dominate you and outscore you and