Manchester United are still a bigger club than Manchester City despite their domestic dominance in recent years, according to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The Etihad will play host to the the 179th Manchester derby on Saturday evening, LIVE on talkSPORT, with United sixth 11 points behind City who are third.
United have a superior overall record in this fixture, having won 73 time compared to City‘s 53, but head into the match as reigning Premier League champions having won the title three times since their rivals last success in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season in 2013.
The City Football Group is now valued at an eye-watering £3.73billion after Silver Lake last month paid £389million for just over a 10 per cent stake, while United were valued at £2.95bn by Forbes in May.
Asked if United are still the bigger club, Solskjaer said without hesitation: “Yeah.”
Solskjaer had to wait five years to get his first taste of a Manchester derby in April 2001 after City returned to the top flight following a four-year absence in the lower leagues.
“At least we play every year now! It took many years before I played a Manchester derby myself,” Solskjaer said.
“But it’s changed in a way. Of course Man City are a better team now than when I was playing.
“I think football has changed quite a lot. I think it allowed a few more proper tackles – with every little angle, everything being scrutinised now, it’s more of a technical, tactical game than physical and mental one.
“But, still, a derby should be played as a derby. We don’t play basketball, so we’re ready for that if that happens.”
City claimed the three points in both derby clashes last season on their way to their fourth Premier league title and their second under Pep Guardiola.
“You can’t argue we’re too far behind but it’s a chance for us now to challenge them and bridge that gap a little bit,” he said.
“So we’re going there to win, we’re going there to get a result, even though we know it’s going to be difficult.”
To bridge that gap Solskjaer believes they need to continue on this current path, although predecessors David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho suggested City’s spending power made it an uneven fight.
“Don’t agree,” he said. “What are you going to do? Are you going to give up and not challenge them? That’s what we’ve got to get back to.”
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Saturday is GameDay on talkSPORT. We’ll bring you THREE live Premier League commentaries across our network this Saturday, including Man City vs Man United (17:30)