Manchester United are hoping to use recent expertise of taking part in in entrance of giant crowds at big stadiums to their benefit as they make the quick journey to the Etihad Stadium for a WSL Manchester derby of epic proportion on Sunday.
They have met Manchester City on the Etihad earlier than, with simply over 31,000 watching on as solely a Caroline Weir surprise objective divided the groups on the opening weekend of the 2019/20 season.
United have by no means overwhelmed City within the WSL however often had shut video games in opposition to their rivals, with derby day ambiance typically throwing the shape guide out of the window. But the Red Devils at the moment are a lot nearer to their rivals in a wider normal sense after making big strides in recent months specifically.
Marc Skinner’s facet are three factors ahead of their neighbours within the WSL desk, in entrance of Arsenal on objective distinction and solely three factors behind leaders Chelsea, who’ve performed a sport extra.
? Marc Skinner talking in regards to the MCR derby ?
“We’ve got a lot of Man Utd fans in our team so there is a deep core of this being real for them.”
“I think it’s the biggest, right? Our fans love playing Arsenal & Chelsea [as well], but this is the derby.”#MUWomen
— Jamie Spencer (@jamiespencer155) December 9, 2022
Skinner has preached the significance of expertise and maturity in what had been a proficient however uncooked United squad ever since he was appointed. This season, they’ve proven a ruthlessness that they beforehand lacked to beat the likes of Everton and West Ham away from house after stumbling in these video games earlier than, whereas victory over Arsenal on the Emirates Stadium final month was a landmark second. They additionally blew Aston Villa away in entrance of a membership file crowd at Old Trafford final week.
That expertise taking part in in entrance of tens of 1000’s in big stadiums is ‘hugely important’ to Skinner. It can be one thing that Manchester City haven’t but had this season; they’ve performed every of their final 5 video games in entrance of sub-2,000 crowds, and haven’t performed on the Etihad since final internet hosting United there. Their most recent ‘big stadium’ sport was the FA Cup remaining greater than six months in the past.
“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 defined.
“Manchester City will likely be galvanised by their followers. But if we are able to flip it the opposite approach and carry out straight from the off, you possibly can attempt to quieten these followers and momentum shifts your approach. We have to attempt to do this – we all know how troublesome that will likely be.”
Remember that @90min_Football is always where you can read Marc Skinner’s full pre-match press conferences.
It was a busier than usual one this morning and he fielded questions about Sunday’s derby, plus a few other things, for 26 minutes ?#MUWomenhttps://t.co/GAUfDhKfF0
— Jamie Spencer (@jamiespencer155) December 9, 2022
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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