Gary Neville makes controversial Cristiano Ronaldo claim amid Man United vs Man City team news

06.03.2022 - 17:17 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Gary Neville thinks Manchester United could be better without Cristiano Ronaldo against Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.

Ronaldo, 37, was not pictured with the rest of the United squad at The Lowry Hotel on Saturday night. The forward was driven home from training on Friday afternoon when he usually drives himself and was believed to be injured for the derby.

It's understood Ronaldo has since been ruled out of the Manchester derby completely and that means United will be without a recognised centre-forward for their visit to the Etihad, with Edinson Cavani also not fit enough to make the squad. However, Neville believes that could actually work in United's favour as the Reds could be 'better off' with Marcus Rashford's pace on the counter-attack.

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"United over the last three or four years have been a counter-attacking team," Neville told Sky Sports.

"That will be exactly the same today I think, with Ronaldo out of the team I think they might be better off with Rashford’s pace on the counter-attack today. Rashford’s got to get himself back on track, for the last year, year and a half, he’s not been playing well.

"They shift him to the left, to the right, down the middle, I don’t think he’s settled and grabbed a position, people refer to the off the field stuff whether it’s a distraction or not and he’s had injuries as well to be fair, his authority off the pitch doesn’t transfer onto the pitch for Manchester United.

"He’s done well here in the past [playing at the Etihad], so it’s a big opportunity for him to show his quality again today if he plays."

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