Gary Neville doubts any Manchester United player would get into the current Manchester City side, with Bruno Fernandes the closest to being able to challenge for a place in their team.
The Red devils travel to the Etihad on Sunday for the second Manchester derby of the campaign.
Pep Guardiola’s Man City are currently top of the Premier League, 19 points above the inconsistent Manchester United side.
Neville says City’s squad is far superior to the one at Old Trafford and says only one United player – Fernandes – would be close to getting into Guardiola’s side.
Fernandes has enjoyed an outstanding first 24 months at Manchester United, scoring 35 goals and making 25 assists in 77 Premier League games.
Asked if any United player is good enough to play for the current Manchester City team, Neville told LADbible TV: ‘I can be really honest about it, I’ll go through them.
‘[Ruben] Dias, [Aymeric] Laporte, [Joao] Cancelo and [Kyle] Walker — they’re better than all of United’s back four. Fernandinho and Rodri, they’re better than United’s holding midfield players. Bernardo Silva, [Ilkay] Gundogan…
‘Bruno is the only one that I think, over the last 12 to 18 months, could… but [Kevin] De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, [Riyad] Mahrez, [Phil] Foden and [Raheem] Sterling.
‘I can’t put Bruno in ahead of Bernardo Silva at the moment, or De Bruyne. I can’t. It’s a sad indictment really.’
City secured a routine 2-0 victory over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United when these teams met for the first time this campaign back in November.
Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson expects a similar outcome on Sunday, backing City get a 2-1 at the Etihad.
‘This is probably Manchester City’s most important game of the season,’ he told BBC Sport. ‘We saw what Tottenham did to them on the counter-attack at Etihad Stadium a couple of weeks ago, and United have the players to carry out a similar plan.
‘I’m still not entirely convinced by United under Ralf Rangnick but they do always create chances – they were held by Watford last week, but they had enough opportunities to win three games.
‘So, I think United will score – but then they have to keep City out. I don’t see that happening.’
