How Manchester United can hurt Manchester City on derby day

Tomorrow Manchester United go to Manchester City in one of the biggest games of the Premier League season so far.

For Manchester United, as for everyone else this season, taking on the reigning champions is a truly daunting task.

Manchester City appears to be even better this campaign than they were last time out when they broke a host of records in cantering to the title.

City already has an ominously large goal difference over their title rivals with around a quarter of the season gone.

So what hope can Manchester United have of beating them in tomorrow’s derby at the Etihad?

Jose Mourinho’s side has had a difficult campaign so far and is well off the pace in the title race, although there have been signs of a sustained improvement in recent weeks.

Unexpectedly Manchester United went to Turin and won in midweek, which had eerie similarities to their amazing Champions League win over Bayern Munich in 1999.

The most significant change that has contributed to this improvement is the decision by Mourinho to drop Romelu Lukaku and give Anthony Martial a sustained run in the side.

Martial has been outstanding since getting his chance. And playing in a more fluid, dynamic front line with Juan Mata and Marcus Rashford has certainly made Manchester United look a more potent attacking threat.

It’s also helped Paul Pogba as United now play with a nominal three in midfield. This is giving him more freedom to link up with the forwards, particularly his France international team-mate Martial.

Lukaku, despite his size, is not really a target-man type centre-forward. His strength is playing off the defenders’ shoulder and using his pace and power to run onto the ball, attacking the defence.

Playing him as an orthodox front man in a relatively static Mourinho system has not suited him and he has struggled to find his best form.

Returning to the game against City, the most effective way to counter them has been playing a very high tempo pressing game and scoring early goals. That is how Liverpool managed to inflict two defeats on them last season.

Of course it’s easier said than done. Do Manchester United have the ability and mindset to play that way?

A pressing game of the sort Liverpool regularly adopt is not Mourinho’s natural approach, although he’s capable of making the kind of tactical adjustment to play that way.

However on Sunday, United are more likely to play on the break looking to counter-attack as Manchester City will almost certainly dominate possession.

If that’s how it does go then Lukaku might be effective playing in the middle of a three with the pace and movement of Martial and Rashford out wide.

That could give Manchester United a chance of exploiting perhaps the one defensive weakness in the City side; their full-backs.

When Tottenham played City recently they were able to expose that area of City’s team several times although they didn’t take their chances.

Both Kyle Walker and particularly Bernard Mendy are vulnerable because they are so offensive-minded.

Mendy especially can be regularly caught out of position and if Manchester United can get the ball out wide quickly they might have some joy.

Even so having said all that City must be favourites to win the game.

But United are in a better place than they were even a few weeks ago and they won this fixture last season in unlikely fashion so might lightning strike twice?