28 October 2023 , 07:45
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Gary Neville has conceded that Manchester United are "not playing well" - but insisted he remains "hopeful" ahead of Sunday's Manchester derby.
Erik ten Hag's side welcome their local rivals to Old Trafford for their first meeting of the season and the clash comes at a time when neither side are hardly operating at their best. United have already lost four of their nine league games this term, while City have suffered defeat twice. Six points separate them coming into the game.
Neville was pressed for comment on how he feels about his former side's chances and could do little more than admit United look well below their best currently. He did, however, make clear that he still would not write off the Red Devils just yet.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the United legend explained: "I went to the Copenhagen game on Tuesday night, I mean United were really poor first half, they were better in the second. They were poor last week, you know the form's not there - they are not playing well.
"So we are just reliant on talking about, you know it's a derby, they'll be up for it, I would always say for United on Sunday that if they are in the game with 20 minutes to go they've got a real chance just because of the crowd and the way in which the feeling will be in the stadium - that happened last season when they were 1-0 down and won 2-1.
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"There's no way United are going to come out on Sunday and blitz City in football terms because they've not been at that level, but City are just a bit below par as well so it will be interesting to see.
"United can bring the best out of City with the football that they play and last season was a surprise - we'll see what happens. I'm more hopeful than expectant."
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Gary Neville admitted he is not expecting a Man Utd win against City on Sunday (Sky Sports)In the build-up to the contest, Ten Hag has been brutally honest regarding some of United's struggles this season. The Dutchman has called on his attackers to be more ruthless in front of goal.
For context, Erling Haaland 's 11 goals across all competitions is the same amount as United's entire squad have managed in the league so far this term. Ten Hag has claimed his players are not capitalising on periods of dominance and chances.
"We’ve paid some attention to it and this has to grow, it has to progress, then games will become more easy," the United boss added. "The co-operation has to click and we showed this week some examples where we have many overload positions and going to the opponents’ goal and we don’t net or even hit the target.
"We should do better. I’m convinced that with the qualities of our players, they will go and score more goals."