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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (Zac Goodwin\/PA)<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was at Barcelona and Bayern Munich and I travelled to England to play against United at Old Trafford, it was always special,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a special place and here it is special for our fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe clubs have a good rivalry. The clubs respect each other, no big issues have happened in my eight seasons here. Of course the FA Cup final was special because we wanted to win and win the treble.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s not like an FA Cup final or the last fixtures of the season where winning or losing can define winning the Premier League or not.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have only been nine fixtures so there are 87 points to play for. It\u2019s another game, we have to be focused to beat them.\u201d<\/p>\n
City, who will be without suspended defender Manuel Akanji, beat Brighton last weekend to rebound from successive top-flight defeats at Wolves and Arsenal before the international break.<\/p>\n
They currently sit second, behind Tottenham, but United, who finished third last season, have had a turbulent start to their campaign, losing four times in their first nine fixtures.<\/p>\n
While City are six points and as many places ahead of United, Guardiola is on his guard after Erik Ten Hag\u2019s side snatched victory in last season\u2019s corresponding showdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnited have always had that feeling \u2013 it doesn\u2019t matter who the manager is \u2013 they are a tough, tough opponent,\u201d Guardiola said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe qualities of the individuals they have, the stadium, the character they have, the momentum. They can score goals, we know the quality they have. Always that has been and always it will be.\u201d<\/p>\n