Boss: United Far Ahead Of City In Stature

Louis van Gaal believes United will always be the biggest and most popular club in Manchester, despite City’s recent success under the ownership of Sheikh Mansour.

The Reds are famous around the world thanks to a history of success and a list of iconic players who have captured the public’s imagination, whereas the Blues are well supported in England but have only emerged as a global presence since they were transformed by investment from Abu Dhabi in 2008.

While City's levels of popularity and success have certainly increased in the last six years, van Gaal believes they have a long way to go before they can be considered equal to United and two of his former clubs, German champions Bayern Munich and Spanish superpower FC Barcelona.

When asked if United will always be considered a bigger club than City, Van Gaal explained - "I think so, because we have more fans abroad and more followers on the social media - so it is like that.

“Bayern Munich is also the biggest club of Germany and the same [is true] for Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain. It will take a long time for Manchester City to reach that level I think.”

City will be without influential playmaker David Silva for Sunday's match at the Etihad Stadium after he suffered an injury in the midweek defeat to Newcastle in the Capital One Cup. The Spaniard's omission could prove pivotal in the game’s result, though van Gaal hopes Manuel Pellegrini’s men do not use it as an excuse.

“We are used to having injured players because we have seven players injured this season, so what can I say,” the Dutchman explained. “They miss one player and they are out of the match? Silva is their playmaker, but Wayne Rooney was away for three matches for us. He is my playmaker and my captain, he can make goals and I didn’t mention that - never. There is no excuse.”