'No, no, no!' - Ruben Amorim not convinced Man City will be easy opponents despite crisis as Man Utd boss insists Pep Guardiola's side 'are in a better place than us'

City have won just one of their last 10 matches in all competitions in their worst run of form since 2006, falling off the pace in the Premier League title race and in danger of missing out on the Champions League knockout stage. United, though, have problems of their own, despite snatching victory over Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday. They have won three out of six games since Amorim took charge and find themselves 13th in the Premier League following twin losses to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.

Amorim told a press conference: "No, no, no, no. The great teams can respond in any moment and I think they are in a better place than us in type of understanding the game, the way they play, the confidence they have. Even in these kind of moments, we have a lot to focus on in our team. Of course we have a strategy to try to win the game with the strategy like it should be. But we are focused just on our team. We will face a great opponent and I’m more focused on our problem. So we have a lot of issues here. So I’m more focused on what we should do on Sunday to win the game. So I’m really focused on my team."

Amorim acknowledged that the two Manchester clubs, who have won 21 Premier League titles between them, have fallen on hard times and looked forward to them battling each other for the top prizes. He added: "I’m really focused on the details, I just want to improve the team so I cannot treat it like a normal derby. It should be like two great teams fighting for the title and it is not that in this moment. So it is just one more game with a very good opponent. Both teams are struggling in the moment so I hope in future I can feel that real feeling of a derby. But my goal now is to improve the team and win games. And we’ll try to win this game."

Amorim also repeated that he had never spoken to City about potentially replacing Pep Guardiola before he entered talks with United. Hugo Viana, Amorim's former colleague at Sporting, will take over as City's sporting director next season. "Never. Never heard from them and this was my only option," he said. "When Manchester United talked to me I had no doubts. I had already something in my mind that could be a possibility. With Manchester City or Viana? Nothing about that."

The Portuguese will be hoping to become the first United manager since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to win at the Etihad Stadium, after Ralf Rangnick's side were thrashed 4-1 in 2022 and Erik ten Hag suffered 6-3 and 3-1 defeats on enemy territory. He added: "Of course, we have a strategy to try to win the game, with the strategy like it should be. But we are focused just on our team. We will face a great opponent and I'm more focused on our problem. We have a lot of issues here."