Ahead Of Manchester Derby: Gundogan's Belief In Making Manchester United Silenced

Manchester City players, Ilkay Gundogan (right) and Erling Haaland. (Photo: Twitter @ManCity)

JAKARTA - Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan is confident his team will rise and silence Manchester United when the two teams meet at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils will act as hosts for their one-city rivals in the 20th Premier League match of the 2022/2023 season, Saturday, January 14.

Both teams came with different results in the midweek English League Cup quarter-finals. City failed to make it to the semifinals after Southampton, while United advanced to the semifinals after winning over Charlton Athletic FC.

Gundogan said the defeat to Southampton did not lose their confidence when they visited the rival headquarters. He believes the quality of the team they have can yield maximum results.

"But we are quite confident. We have a lot of quality in our squad. I know what we can do on the pitch. We all know. We are and are ready to face every challenge," he said.

Sekota derby schedules made Manchester City tactician Pep Guardiola rest some of his key players when he met Southampton.

The tactician experiment forced The Citizens to give up surprisingly with two goals without reply scored by Sekou Mara and Moussa Djenepo in the first half.

"While still frustrated, sad, and disappointed with the match (against Southampton), I'm sure we will show a different phase on Saturday at the derby (against MU)," said the German player.

Even so confident, Gundogan still takes into account the strength possessed by the Red Devils. Moreover, Erik ten Hag's men were not inferior in their last four league games.

MU also slumped at the start of the season due to two consecutive defeats. However, they slowly got up and now managed to occupy the last place in the top four.

"It will be a very difficult game, maybe the toughest game at Manchester derby in recent years. Going to Old Trafford is always special, it will be very difficult, and we need a much better performance," he said.

Currently MU fills fourth place in the standings with a collection of 35 points. They are four points adrift of City in second place and nine points from Arsenal in first position.