Top News

Manchester United’s next assignment is the hugely significant Manchester derby, with neighbours Manchester City due to visit Old Trafford.

A victory on Sunday could provide the spark for United’s Premier League season, although supporters remain worried by the Red Devils’ fragile defending.

United have shipped two goals in each of their opening three league matches, and Lisandro Martinez has understandably come under scrutiny.

The Argentina defender has endured an inconsistent spell, with the centre-back making mistakes against AC Milan and Ipswich Town.

Before coming up against Erling Haaland, the World Cup-winning defender played down his previous record against the Norwegian striker.

Since the former Ajax player joined United, City have won six meetings, with Haaland scoring eight goals and also providing three assists.

“That is the past. It’s gone and now we have to – I have to – be ready for this game because it’s going to be so different from the last one.

“For sure when you win, your confidence is going up. But now we have to be calm, we have to be humble. And then we have to think about the derby that is really important for us,” the 28-year-old said.

The Argentina international can take encouragement from the fact that plenty of pundits had also written him and the club off before the previous meeting.

On that occasion, the 20-time English league champions not only won, but overwhelmed City, and the margin could easily have been far harsher on Pep Guardiola’s team.

Martinez also admitted his frustration at Manchester United failing to keep a clean sheet against Everton.

“Against Everton, we played to take the clean sheet and then we conceded the goals and that’s what annoys us.

“It’s really bad, for sure, because we want to be there and if we want to compete, we have to keep the clean sheet because it’s very important.”

United will go into the match only two days after their victory over Sabah FK in the Champions League, while Enzo Maresca’s side will have one extra full day of rest.

The left-footed defender did not want to get involved in that debate, instead saying it was a positive for the team to be back in the Champions League after such a long absence.

“This is what we want, playing every three days, playing in all the competitions.

“This is what we have wanted for a long time and now we are ready. We have to recover now and this is the standard that we want as a team.”

United will hope Martinez and the rest of the squad can lay down a marker to the rest of the league with a statement win under the lights at the Theatre of Dreams.