Manchester United urged to copy Ole Gunnar Solskjaer formation vs Man City

Mikael Silvestre has urged Ralf Rangnick to switch to a more defensive formation when his former side Manchester United travel to face Man City in the Premier League this weekend. The interim manager has favoured a more attacking approach since taking charge of the club, but United never lost a match away at City while former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in charge.

Most of those memorable away performances were with United embracing their tag as underdogs for the match, with the Norwegian often selecting three centre-backs to combat the attacking threat of their opponents.

Rangnick has toyed with different defensive partnerships from a trio of Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof since he took charge of the club and faces a difficult decision in selecting his starting duo this weekend.

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However, former defender Silvestre believes the interim manager could learn a lesson from Solskjaer by selecting all three of his preferred centre-backs for the match on Sunday afternoon. "I would probably play the three of them actually," Silvestre told the Manchester Evening News as part of an interview in association with bettingexpert.

"Let's face it, City will control the game most of the time and I think we should be realistic. The times where we've been able to stop City in the last few years, to take points and to win, is when we played five at the back.

"When Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bisska were high up. It is either three at the back or five in midfield, you can put it various ways. But to limit City's ball control and be able to break the lines going forward, I would go with the back three to begin with."

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