Mark Hughes warns of another Manchester United 'calamity' for Solskjaer vs Man City
The United boss will be under pressure as his side return to Old Trafford for the first time since their humiliation at the hands of Liverpool
Mark Hughes believes Manchester United’s players are still behind Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but has warned him he can’t afford another “calamity” against Manchester City.
United return to Old Trafford on Saturday as they host their rivals in the derby — with more than just local bragging rights on the line.
Solskjaer has faced relentless questions over his position this season, particularly after his side’s 5-0 humiliation at the hands of Liverpool just a fortnight ago.
They managed to bounce back from that though with a 3-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur last week, and a 2-2 draw at Atalanta in the Champions League, to ease some of the pressure on the manager.
And Hughes believes he saw enough in that Spurs result to suggest that Solskjaer still has the support of his players heading into another crucial encounter.
“We’re not far away from the Liverpool result which was an absolute calamity,” Hughes told Sky Sports.
“Clearly, he can’t afford a result or a performance like that against Manchester City, so he will have learnt from that, and clearly he learnt from it because of the shape and personnel that he picked for the Tottenham game.
“He understands that the only way you get rid of the noise is by winning football matches, and that’s exactly what he did against Tottenham.
“There was a lot of speculation heading into that game, and they answered the questions. It seems that Ole gets in positions where there’s a question about his position, and almost without fail he’ll get a big result out of his players.
“That still tells me that the players are very much with him.”
Despite their indifferent start to the season, United sit just three points behind City heading into tomorrow’s derby.
Their recent record against their rivals will give them plenty of encouragement as well, with Solskjaer having won three of the last four league meetings against Pep Guardiola.
All eyes though will be on how they fare against another of the title favourites, having surrendered so meekly against Liverpool just two weeks ago.
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