Ahead of the derby on Sunday, Louis van Gaal has acknowledged that this match is the talk of the town, and that he hopes United can repeat the performance against them at Old Trafford last season, when we won 4-2.

In Manchester people are talking of the match. I can imagine that because Manchester City have a lot of fans, but Manchester United has more fans so it shall be a battle. I don’t think it is a big issue for us that Manchester City have started well, because you can expect that from a club like City. It’s not only a derby, but a match that can see who can be ready to go top of the table.

Last year we had a very good derby, of course, a 4-2 win, and that is very important for the fans. I hope we can do that again but it is always difficult. [If United win] I shall take a very big glass of wine and toast our victory.