Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes (Image: Zohaib Alam - MUFC/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Manchester United's captain Bruno Fernandes has emphasised the need for his team to concentrate on their own challenges instead of Manchester City's recent poor run of form.
With all eyes set on the Etihad Stadium this Sunday afternoon, new manager Ruben Amorim is anticipating his first experience in the heated Manchester derby. Despite Sporting, under Amorim, pulling off an impressive 4-1 win over City in the Champions League six weeks ago, and the Blues undergoing a rough patch with seven losses in their last ten matches and only one victory, Fernandes downplayed the idea that now is an opportune moment to play City.
"It doesn’t change anything for us, how they are in this moment, because we have to think about ourselves," said Fernandes, dismissing any perceived advantage due to City's form. "We all know that this is a huge game and they have huge players.
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"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."
The United midfielder continued, insisting that facing City is much like any other game: "Obviously we play City and we want to win the game and it doesn’t matter if it was another game, we will try to win in the same way."
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