Gary Neville has claimed the prospect of Cristiano Ronaldo missing out against Manchester City could in fact be a positive for Manchester United.
Reports have suggested that the 37-year-old will miss out on the Manchester derby after not being part of the squad assembled by Ralf Rangnick.
United met at The Lowry Hotel on Saturday night ahead of Sunday’s derby at The Etihad, but veteran forwards Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani were not spotted.
Rangnick had hinted that he had one or two question marks hanging over some players, although he did refuse to speculate which players were in doubt.
HAVE YOUR SAY! How will Man Utd fare against Man City on Sunday? Let us know in the comments
"He [Cavani] is back in training since yesterday,” he explained on Friday. “Today was his second training session with the team. It looks good so I think he could at least be part of the group for Sunday.
“Apart from that we have one or two question marks and we’ll have to wait and see what happens tomorrow or on Sunday.
“But Edinson I think as it stands now will be part of the group.”
Ronaldo has missed just one game through injury all season and is United’s top scorer with 15 goals in all competitions.
He did play 90 minutes last time out in the draw vs Watford continuing a more lean run of form which has seen him score just once in ten matches of 2022.
United have a good recent record away at the local neighbours having won their last three games at The Etihad under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
And Neville believes that the blueprint from those victories - which included playing with pace and on the counter - actually suits a team with Marcus Rashford leading the line, rather than Ronaldo.
Speaking ahead of the game on Sky Sports, Neville explained: “Manchester United will be playing on the counter, United over the last three or four seasons - particularly under Ole - were a counter attacking team, really comfortable sitting back and punching out through Rashford and others on the break. That will be exactly the same today.
“Cristiano not being in the team, I can’t say it’s a negative, but it’s not the big loss that it could be in other games because on the counter-attack they need to be dangerous today and they are better off with Rashford counter attacking than Ronaldo.”
On the man that is likely to replace Ronaldo, Neville added: "Rashford’s got to get himself back on track, for the last year, year and a half, he’s not been playing well.
“They shift him to the left, to the right, down the middle, I don’t think he’s settled and grabbed a position, people refer to the off the field stuff whether it’s a distraction or not and he’s had injuries as well to be fair, his authority off the pitch doesn’t transfer onto the pitch for Manchester United.
“He’s done well here in the past (playing at the Etihad), so it’s a big opportunity for him to show his quality again today if he plays."
