Manuel Pellegrini says his Manchester City players have ‘double motivation’ to win the derby as they target an unprecedented five straight wins over their rivals.
Manchester United have also never lost five straight league games against the same opposition and the Blues have the chance to make history at Old Trafford.
And Pellegrini insists that his team will play to win on Sunday, having been overtaken by United in the Premier League title race.
“Because it is a derby against a strong team that dominated the Premier League for so many years – it is double motivation,” he said.
“The first motivation is to win and after that the extra motivation is against whom you are going to win.
“A draw is never a good result, I understand that we haven’t been getting the results we need when playing away in 2015.
“But before that we were the best team away from home – we must improve but with my way of thinking I will not be happy with a draw.”
City have won only once in their last six away games and come into the game on the back of three straight defeats on the road.
In contrast United’s home form has improved drastically under Louis van Gaal, with Southampton the only team to win at Old Trafford this season.
And with January arrival Wilfried Bony and Stevan Jovetic both missing through injury, there will be added pressure on Sergio Aguero to lead the line.
The diminutive Argentine has four goals in his last four encounters with United, but has failed to find the back of the net in his last six outings.
Pellegrini was keen to stress that Aguero’s mini-drought was not to blame for City’s recent results however, saying instead that it’s the team’s responsibility to score more goals.
“This year we have scored 28 goals less than this time last season but after winning the league we decided that we had good strikers,” he added.
“Scoring 28 goals less is a lot but it’s not just because Sergio isn’t scoring.”
Captain Vincent Kompany will also face a late fitness test ahead of the game, having not trained with the squad fully since Monday’s defeat at Crystal Palace.
Main image courtesy of Manchester City FC via YouTube, with thanks.
