The Manchester derby – snow storm permitting – is a matter of hours away.
Manchester City will begin the day a healthy eight points clear of United at the Premier League summit. Win at Old Trafford, and it could prove to be a hugely significant step towards the title. And yes, we know it’s still only December.
Looking ahead to the game in his column for The Mirror, Stan Collymore has outlined the players he believes could prove to have the biggest impact.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, he names Kevin De Bruyne – probably the best player in the entire league so far this season – and Leroy Sane to be City’s key men. He then singles out Jesse Lingard to be the player he expects to be crucial for United.
Making it clear in the opening line of the column that he never expected to be putting the United player in the same bracket as De Bruyne and Sane, he explains that his red-hot form could prove a decisive for Mourinho, with the United manager likely to ask his team to sit deep and hit City on the counter attack.
Lingard has undeniably been one of United’s stand out performers in their last two games. After scoring a memorable solo effort to make the three points at Watford, he scored twice in last weekend’s 3-1 victory over Arsenal at The Emirates.
