Manchester United’s star player, Marcus Rashford, aims to hand local rivals Manchester City their third league defeat when the two teams face off at Old Trafford this Sunday.
This encounter signifies the inaugural Manchester derby of the season, and with just six points separating the teams after nine games, a surprise home victory under Erik ten Hag’s leadership could reduce the gap to a mere three points, igniting optimism among Old Trafford’s faithful supporters.
Matches between these two fierce rivals are well-known, but Manchester City is not the only team that Manchester United considers a foe. The longstanding rivalry with Liverpool has always been intense for everyone on the red side of Manchester, and in Rashford’s perspective, there’s no comparison when it comes to the animosity generated by these two rivalries.
Earlier this year, Rashford made an appearance on Gary Neville’s show, The Overlap, where he was asked to choose which team he disliked more: City or Liverpool. Without hesitation, United’s number 10 declared his preference for disliking Jurgen Klopp’s side as he stated, “Liverpool, I don’t like either of them, but I dislike them more.” He reiterated this sentiment, saying, “It is Liverpool, all day.”
Part of his reasoning may stem from Rashford’s relatively less impressive track record against Liverpool. Although he has scored six goals against Klopp’s team, he has only won three out of 15 games against Liverpool.
While Manchester City’s rivalry with United is largely geographical, for long stretches of time, they posed no serious threat to Red Devils’ supremacy. In contrast, Liverpool has enjoyed extended periods of success at the top, leading Sir Alex Ferguson to famously declare his intention to “knock them off their perch.”
For most of Rashford’s tenure in the first team at United, Liverpool has finished above them and achieved major honours, including the Premier League and the Champions League. The 25-year-old emphasized, “Regardless of the circumstances, a victory over Liverpool is significant.”
Reflecting on the outcome of the previous season, Rashford expressed his determination to help United end City’s reign of dominance. Pep Guardiola’s squad became the first English team to achieve a treble since United in 1999.
When asked for his thoughts on City’s Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League triumphs, Rashford acknowledged, “Well done to them and we just move on now and it’s up to them to keep it up, and it’s up to the rest of us to try and catch them up.” The initial opportunity for this catch-up effort arises this Sunday as Rashford seeks to add another goal to his existing tally of five against United’s ‘noisy neighbours.’
Marcus Rashford
Marcus Rashford
This season he played in total 9 times for 761 minutes for Premier League.
Marcus Rashford scored 1 goal for Manchester United. He procured one assist. He received 1 yellow card and no red cards.
His team is currently 8th in Premier League. In the last match Manchester United won 1-0 against FC Copenhagen. The next match in Premier League will be against Manchester City.
Manchester United performance and stats
Manchester United is currently 8th in the Premier League with 15 points.
In the last 9 games, it has won 5 times and lost 4 times. In its last match, Manchester United won 1-2 against Sheffield United.
It has a negative goal difference after scoring 11 goals and conceding 13.
Manchester United will play the next match in Premier League against Manchester City on Sunday 29th of October in Manchester. The prediction is Manchester City winning the match.