{"id":294685,"date":"2023-10-29T08:43:51","date_gmt":"2023-10-29T08:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=294685"},"modified":"2023-10-29T08:43:51","modified_gmt":"2023-10-29T08:43:51","slug":"kyle-walker-stokes-the-fire-for-man-utd-derby-as-man-city-eye-statement-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/soccer\/kyle-walker-stokes-the-fire-for-man-utd-derby-as-man-city-eye-statement-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Walker stokes the fire for Man Utd derby as Man City eye statement win"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Kyle Walker has stoked fires ahead of the Manchester derby insisting United\u2019s controversial win last January was the key to City chasing down the treble. United beat City 2-1 at Old Trafford in January, the winner scored by Marcus Rashford despite Bruno Fernandes appearing to have interfered with play from an offside position.<\/p>\n

But Walker insists that result proved the tipping point for furious Guardiola who launched his \u201chappy flowers\u201d rant after a 4-2 win over Tottenham five days later, complaining about complacency creeping in at the club.<\/p>\n

And the result, which Walker attributes directly to that derby defeat, was that City went on the charge, staying unbeaten until they had wrapped up the title, beat Erik ten Hag\u2019s side to the FA Cup final and then Inter Milan to match their treble history from 1999.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost at Old Trafford last season and the luck didn\u2019t go in our favour but we bounced back from that and did what we did \u2013 we went on to win the treble,\u201d said Walker. \u201cYes this game means a lot of course, but it\u2019s part of a bigger picture and ultimately that is what matters. It will help us win the Premier League again and we don\u2019t need to think beyond that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both sides warmed up for this mouthwatering clash with wins in the Champions League, United edging Copenhagen to keep their hopes alive and City teeing up early qualification with a third straight group victory against Swiss side Young Boys.<\/p>\n

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Walker believes City are firing on most of their cylinders but still have room for improvement, not least at the back where they have kept just three clean sheets in 15 games in all competitions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s early in the season and we\u2019re competing towards the top of the Premier League and have won three from three in the Champions League,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re scoring the goals and that\u2019s what wins you games.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut of course, there\u2019ll be tight games where keeping a clean sheet might be the difference between winning or not and so obviously we want to make sure we\u2019re getting more of them. I think the lads are playing well at both ends of the pitch right now and the results show that.\u201d<\/p>\n

City\u2019s have not shut out a side since beating Nottingham Forest 2-0 at home on September 23 but they face a United side who are the only top half side with a negative goal difference and are struggling to find the net.<\/p>\n