MAGUIRE AND LINDELOF: WE'RE GETTING BETTER

Manchester United centre-backs Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof say their defensive partnership is continuing to grow and they are thoroughly enjoying learning from each other.

The pair have formed an excellent link-up this term at the heart of the Reds’ backline, helping the team to keep seven clean sheets in the last 10 games they’ve played together.

April’s edition of Inside United, the club's official monthly magazine, features an exclusive Q&A with Maguire and Lindelof, and in it they reveal they have been pleased with a number of aspects of their work together as they show great signs of forming a solid long-term understanding and say this will continue to improve

“It’s been brilliant [playing with Victor],” Harry told us. “We’ve had a good season up to now together. When you form partnerships, it takes time. I’m learning his game and he’s learning mine and I think we’re getting better.

“We’re keeping a lot more clean sheets than we were at the start of season and we’ve never really been a team which has conceded a lot of chances.

“We’ve been poor from set plays with our defending and we’ve had a couple of great goals scored against us from outside the box, but we haven’t really been having games where David [De Gea] has had to make five or six saves, apart from maybe the Carabao Cup second leg against [Manchester] City, when David was brilliant.

“It’s a partnership that’s building and I think we’ll get better and better, and start keeping more clean sheets like we have been doing recently.”

Victor agreed, saying: “It’s great to play with Harry. He’s a fantastic player and it’s great to partner with him. We want to win more games and I think, for every game we play together, we become better and better.

“Hopefully, we can keep improving and help the team get more clean sheets and get more results.”

With Axel Tuanzebe and Eric Bailly returning to full fitness in recent weeks, and Phil Jones also available, Maguire adds that competition for places among the Reds’ central defenders will help everyone improve in the long run.

“It’s a strong part of our team and we have great strength in depth in the centre-half area, some big centre-halves who can all play and do a job in the Premier League.

“It’s nice to have that competition, it keeps you on your toes and you’ve got to work hard in training and be the best in training and be the best in the games.”