EFL Cup draw: Manchester United face Manchester City, Liverpool host Spurs

It was hard, as I was expecting, but were in control for the first 35 minutes and the last 35 minutes.

Mourinho could not afford any mistakes in this third-round tie after Premier League defeats by Manchester City and Watford, with a Europa League loss to Feyenoord sandwiched in between.

United won 3-1 at third-tier Northampton Town to ease some of the pressure building on Mourinho following three consecutive defeats, while holders City prevailed 2-1 at Swansea City.

However, United took the lead for a second time when Ander Herrera’s low drive found the net in the 68th minute.

Herrera was part of a classy United midfield trio that also included Morgan Schneiderlin and Carrick, and he felt they did well to move the ball and not allow the Cobblers players to get on top of them.

“We have three home matches now in a row and it is always good to be at home”, he said.

“We deserved to win clearly”, Mourinho told Sky Sports.

Striker Sergio Aguero will be available after completing a three-match suspension, although City scored six goals without him in the two league matches he missed against United and Bournemouth.

Though Mourinho had little to say to the national broadcasters, he later addressed the club’s recent bad run in an interview with MUTC.

“When you play these kind of games, people don’t realise how hard it is”, he told beIN SPORTS after the Northampton game. United will face Burnley at Old Trafford the weekend after the City clash, so it will be a big week for United, needing to pull it out of the bag against Chelsea, City then Burnley have a successful week. I feel I can play in all positions but I think the manager has made it clear either I’ll play up front or in the no.10 and that’s where he sees me playing. [It was as] hard as I was expecting, but we were totally in control for the first 35 minutes and then we were again in control for the last 45.