Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany believes that Pep Guardiola's side must "keep their biggest eye on" Manchester United's "one true star" Bruno Fernandes in Sunday's Manchester derby at Old Trafford.
Both the Citizens and the Red Devils have endured a turbulent 2024-25 campaign and have performed well below the standards expected, with Guardiola's side - last season's champions - currently sitting fifth in the Premier League table, eight places and 14 points above Ruben Amorim's men languishing in 13th spot.
Man United could arguably be sitting lower down the table had captain Fernandes not delivered the goods on countless occasions this term. The 30-year-old has indeed been a standout performer for the Red Devils and has been crowned March's Premier League Player of the Month.
In a season when both Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have struggled in the final third, Fernandes has recorded a team-high 16 goals and 16 assists in 45 games for Man United across all competitions, including seven goals and three assists in his last eight appearances.
While there will be plenty of eyes on whether Kevin De Bruyne will make his 22nd and final Manchester derby appearance on Sunday after announcing his decision to leave Man City at the end of the season, Man United fans will be hoping that the post-match clamour will be around their chief creator Fernandes, who has already haunted the Citizens on one occasion this season.
Man United "a mid-table side" at best - but Fernandes can hurt Man City
Indeed, Fernandes scored an 88th-minute equaliser from the penalty spot in Man United's dramatic 2-1 comeback victory over Man City at the Etihad Stadium in December, the third time that he has scored against the Citizens to help the Red Devils win a Premier League match.
In what has been described as the "weakest United side" that McInerney has seen in his life, Fernandes is the one player who he believes could cause Man City problems in the 196th instalment of the Manchester derby this weekend.
"Man United are still a side very much a work in progress. They've got injuries and they've got a lot of new players, but they are still lacking a lot of quality," McInerney told Sports Mole.
"It's the weakest United side I've seen in my life, and I'm 39 years old. United obviously might've been weaker when I was a baby. I can't remember, but in my conscious footballing fan life, I've never seen a United side that looks more like a Europa League side or not even that right now, they're a mid-table side.
"[But] there is quality there. Bruno Fernandes continues to be their one true star. He's scoring big goal after big goal for them.
© Imago
Guardiola urged to select Gonzalez to keep Fernandes quiet
"As much as he sort of irritates me as a football fan, because he's just one of those players who gets on your skin as a rival fan, I can't deny his quality. For United fans, they will love him because he always steps up for them."
McInerney added: "Man United's biggest problem has been consistency, they go through spells where they can't create... they have a lack of quality up front and they are leaning on Fernandes to save them.
"If I was Guardiola, I'd be telling whoever's [in midfield] - hopefully not [Mateo] Kovacic because he's not a man-marker - but you'd be telling someone like Nico Gonzalez just to track [Fernandes]. He's very good at what City have been very bad at this season. Tracking runners.
"Fernandes has an incredible, uncanny ability to drift into the box and score big goals or around the edge of the area. He's a cracking player and he's always done well against City. He scores in pretty big games for them as well, so he's the one you've got to keep the biggest eye on.
"It was previously [Marcus] Rashford, but Rashford's not there. He's always been so good in derbies against us. So [now] their biggest threat is really [Fernandes]."
McInerney has also shared his thoughts on the importance of Sunday's derby showdown for Man City in their quest to qualify for next season's Champions League and how he expects both teams to line up for this intriguing contest at Old Trafford.
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion ahead of Man City's trip to Man United.
Oliver Thomas
