Man Utd to draw on recent big stadium wins ahead of Manchester derby

Manchester United are hoping to use recent experience of playing in front of large crowds at big stadiums to their advantage as they make the short trip to the Etihad Stadium for a WSL Manchester derby of epic proportion on Sunday.

They have met Manchester City at the Etihad before, with just over 31,000 watching on as only a Caroline Weir wonder goal divided the teams on the opening weekend of the 2019/20 season.

United have never beaten City in the WSL but usually had close games against their rivals, with derby day atmosphere often throwing the form book out of the window. But the Red Devils are now much closer to their rivals in a wider general sense after making big strides in recent months in particular.

Marc Skinner’s side are three points ahead of their neighbours in the WSL table, in front of Arsenal on goal difference and only three points behind leaders Chelsea, who have played a game more.

Skinner has preached the importance of experience and maturity in what had been a talented but raw United squad ever since he was appointed. This season, they have shown a ruthlessness that they previously lacked to beat the likes of Everton and West Ham away from home after stumbling in those games before, while victory over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium last month was a landmark moment. They also blew Aston Villa away in front of a club record crowd at Old Trafford last week.

That experience playing in front of tens of thousands in big stadiums is ‘hugely important’ to Skinner. It is also something that Manchester City have not yet had this season; they have played each of their last five games in front of sub-2,000 crowds, and have not played at the Etihad since last hosting United there. Their most recent ‘big stadium’ game was the FA Cup final more than six months ago.

“I’ve watched our teams perform in those venues in front of the fans, so when we go into this game, we can literally look back three or four weeks and have two experiences of that. It’s important that we use that as much as possible,” Skinner explained.

“Manchester City will be galvanised by their fans. But if we can turn it the other way and perform straight from the off, you can try and quieten those fans and momentum shifts your way. We have to try and do that – we know how difficult that will be."

When United played at Old Trafford for the first time in front of fans last season, the occasion seemed to take over long enough to allow Everton to score a shock early goal. But they scored first against Arsenal last month, eventually mounting a comeback after falling 2-1 behind, before clinically taking chance after chance against Villa last weekend.

“We’ve massively grown as a collective," Skinner added. "Statistics would say we score first and go on to win games, but actually the reality is we’re putting that into a performance. We’re scoring first [in big stadium games] because we’re performing to score first. I know it’s a huge occasion but it’s no different to our practiced principles we do in every day training."

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