Manchester City need to play as they did in 4-1 defeat earlier this season to beat Manchester United says Pep Guardiola | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola is eyeing a replica performance of the one that fell to a 4-1 defeat at Sporting in the Champions League this season against Manchester United on Sunday.

Manchester City come into the latest edition of the Manchester derby on a torrid run of form that has stretched across their last 10 matches in all competitions, with their most recent outing being a 2-0 defeat away to Juventus.

The Serie A giants recorded a somewhat comfortable win over the Premier League champions in Turin leaving Manchester City now fearing for their future in the competition, sitting 22nd in the Champions League table with two matches remaining.

Pep Guardiola has reiterated his belief that performances are at a good level, and he remained pleased with the manner of defeat against Juventus on Wednesday night. But the bottom line is that City are not recording victories, and are falling further behind their usual standards.

Speaking ahead of the weekend’s meeting with Ruben Amorim’s squad at the Etihad Stadium, Pep Guardiola believes that the impact of the Portuguese coach at Manchester United can already seen – just weeks after joining the club from Sporting CP.

“His influence is already there [at Manchester United]; all the patterns they start to do it, how good the movements everyone does it, and the runners, and the pace,” Pep Guardiola said on Friday afternoon. “Yeah, he will do a good job in United, I’m pretty sure of that, he will do it!”

Whilst City endured a heavy defeat at the hands of a Ruben Amorim-led squad in their last meeting, Pep Guardiola went on to admit that the 4-1 loss in Lisbon in the Champions League is the blueprint for what they need to do this weekend.

“I would like to play the game we played in Lisbon on Sunday [against Manchester United], believe me! The way we played in Lisboa, I would like to play on Sunday,” the Manchester City manager explained.

He continued, “I don’t know if we will be able to do it because for many reasons, but we will see.”

The clash with Manchester United is one of four remaining Premier League games for Manchester City before the turn of the year, with away trips to Aston Villa and Leicester City still to come, and a home meeting with Everton on Boxing Day.