Rangnick: We can thrive in Elland Road bear pit

Ralf Rangnick believes Manchester United will rise to the occasion of playing at a rocking Elland Road against old foes Leeds - a rivalry the interim manager only recently became aware of.

Sunday promises to be quite an occasion at Elland Road when it hosts a Premier League fixture between the rivals in front of fans for the first time since October 2003.

A hostile atmosphere lies in wait for United as soon as they set foot in West Yorkshire, but there appears little sign of Rangnick being intimidated by an enmity he did not know existed.

The 63-year-old has experience of derby matches in Germany and believes his experienced squad will thrive in the Elland Road cauldron.

"To be honest I didn't know until a week ago, but most of my colleagues have already indicated that this is probably one of the biggest rivalries in the Premier League," Rangnick said.

"But of course, I also had quite a few of those local derbies in Germany, with Schalke against Borussia Dortmund, just to give you one example, and quite a few others.

"I think our team and our players have so much experience playing against teams like that in this atmosphere it can also - and will hopefully - rise our level of performance to play in this environment.

"Last season I think they played Leeds behind closed doors because of Covid restrictions and as far as I know it's the first game in a full stadium since they last played in the Premier League. This is probably, I don't know, 15, 20 years ago.

"It's great. I think everybody prefers to play in a sold-out stadium, in a full stadium, rather than in an empty stadium and therefore it's good. We are very much looking forward to the game."

Whether Rangnick is as calm and measured during the storm that awaits his side at