Manchester City star claims Man Utd are ‘stronger than ever’ ahead of Saturday’s derby

Ilkay Gundogan has claimed Manchester United look ‘stronger’ than they have done for several years, ahead of Saturday’s Manchester derby following Carabao Cup quarter-final exit to Southampton.

First-half goals from Sekou Mara and Moussa Djenepo ensured Southampton won 2-0 on Wednesday on a night where City failed to have a shot on target over 90 minutes.

City have had something of a stranglehold on the English cup competition, winning it six times since 2014. But for the second season in a row, City have failed to reach the semi-finals.

City must recover quickly with a derby match against Manchester United on Saturday their next assignment.

A resurgent United have won 15 of their 18 games since a 6-3 humbling by City in October, and are on an eight-match winning run in all competitions.

In contrast, City have been underwhelming since returning from the World Cup. They trail Premier League leaders Arsenal by five points and Guardiola warned his players can’t afford a repeat of Wednesday’s performance if they want to overcome their crosstown rivals and keep pace with the Gunners.

“It’s a different competition, of course, but if we perform in this way we don’t have a chance,” he said. “I know the momentum they have.

“For many years they’re looking forward to being in this position. We know exactly what to do to play better and we’re going to try to do it … Today was not even close to what we are.”

Ilkay Gundogan feels Manchester United will offer Manchester City a real test at Old Trafford this weekend.

Speaking after the defeat at St Mary’s, the club captain admitted it was far from the ideal preparation for such an important fixture. “Well, obviously it is never easy for the confidence to lose a game before such a big derby,” he told Sky Sports.

“But we go to Old Trafford, we know we have done quite well in recent years over there, but it also feels like this United side is probably stronger than ever, at least in the recent past. They are full of confidence, they will play great football and we need a much better performance than today.”

Asked about City’s display at St Mary’s, Gundogan admitted Southampton were worthy winners at the quarter-final stage. “Very disappointing, obviously the result but also the performance; it was definitely not what we wanted,” the German said.

“We had hopes and a good chance to get to the semi-final of the Carabao Cup, but unfortunately with that performance we didn’t have any chance. Credit to Southampton, they did well but it was not enough [from us].”