Man Utd vs Man City: Manuel Pellegrini warns Vincent Kompany he’s not

“I’m not punishing Vincent”.

City, the leaders, lead United by two points and Pellegrini denied the outcome of the fixture would decide who would be champions.

“We hope to see a lot of goals, the most important thing is to win the game”. We found it hard to find space and when we did find it, we didn’t do enough with it but defensive stability is what the bigger teams need and I think we both showed that today.

“I don’t have any problem with Vincent Kompany”, Pellegrini said.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini thinks the shock of that derby result last spring may have jolted his team back into life. After one month or five weeks without playing or training, you must be fit but you’re not ready to play an important game.

“Last season we finished the last six games without Vincent and we won all six, conceding only two”, the manager said. Pellegrini’s comments don’t guarantee Kompany will start Sunday but make very possible he will. But as I also think the goals will come, I will enhance that price by backing the Man Utd/Over 2.5 Goals double but don’t take less than [4.0].

The 29-year-old had missed City’s previous five games with a calf injury and Pellegrini had insisted he would not be fit to play during the global break.

In his early days with City, Kompany felt United saw his club as unimportant, with feats such as their subsequent Premier League title triumphs of 2011-12 and 2013-14 scarcely credible.

Pellegrini, speaking at a press conference to preview Sunday’s Barclays Premier League clash at Old Trafford, did appear to get frustrated as he was asked numerous questions about his captain.

“I am satisfied with a point but I don’t like to play this way”. His late introduction led to a few confusion as captain for the night Yaya Toure offered him the armband only for Pellegrini to stop him. Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling will swap constantly in the attacking left and center position if Silva is absent while Navas will start wide right.

For his part, Kompany is confident of hitting the ground running when he does return to the team.

“It’s a performance that I’m glad we have in the locker but I’d prefer it if we didn’t have to use it”, he said. I have had the opportunity to play a lot of them since I have been here and I know it is a special game for the fans. “It just has to carry on”.