Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has no concerns about Manchester United s return to Old Trafford for another big match against Manchester City, despite their humiliating defeat to Liverpool in their previous home game.
United were hammered 5-0 by Liverpool last month, their largest ever home defeat in that famous fixture.
After a 3-0 win at Tottenham and a 2-2 draw with Atalanta, Solskjaer s side are back on home turf for the visit of rivals City.
City have matched Liverpool with a record seven away wins at Old Trafford, but Solskjaer is not concerned a result he described as his darkest day last time out will still be on his players minds.
We ve moved on from that one, he said during a news conference. Of course, it s going to be in the history books, but we ve had a good week with good results away from home in difficult games.
The mindset is positive. Of course, we ve got to go into this game believing we can do good things. It s a local derby and we know what s at stake.
It s a special one, of course. The last time we had a Manchester derby with fans in the stadium, the atmosphere was electric. I think everyone will remember that one more than any dark moments we ve had.
When Scott [McTominay] scored that winning goal in extra time, that was a special moment.
We know it s a one-off game. We have to start on the front foot, start ready, because a lot of it depends on who starts on the front foot.
This time tomorrow |
— Manchester United (@ManUtd)
Solskjaer has won half of his four games against Pep Guardiola in all competitions, the best win rate versus the City manager of any boss to face him at least five times.
But he said: I m not one to talk about what I ve done. I ve got a great respect and admiration for Pep and what he s done.
We ve had a few good results against them, some good games, some tight games, and we need another performance like this.
Sometimes you need luck – we know this is a game where we re going to have to work hard, suffer a lot, but we have to believe in ourselves. We have to trust ourselves.
Solskjaer s future has been the subject of speculation since the Liverpool game, yet he responded: I stepped in the doors here in December 2018, three years ago, and there s been speculation ever since. That s no problem.
We ve moved on from the Liverpool game – of course, it s always going to be there as a dark moment in our careers, but we ve had a good week with two good results away from home and we re ready for this game.
You don t expect an easy ride when you become manager of Man United, so that s how it is.
