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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Confident Harry Maguire Will Be Fit for Manchester Derby

Rory Marsden

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is confident captain Harry Maguire will be fit for Sunday's home clash against Manchester City after sitting out Thursday's FA Cup fifth-round victory over Derby County.

The Norwegian explained that he had not intended to rest the centre-back for the 3-0 win at Pride Park, but Maguire injured his ankle, per the team's official site: "He rolled over on his ankle. I wasn't going to rest him today, but it's one of those things that happens in training, and we had a few out today, but I think he'll be all right. He'll be fine."

In Maguire's absence, Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof started in the middle of United's defence as the Red Devils kept their seventh clean sheet in their past nine games.

Luke Shaw opened the scoring against the Rams before January loan signing Odion Ighalo netted a double to seal United's spot in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, where they will face Norwich City.

United go into Sunday's derby in fine form. They are unbeaten in their past nine matches in all competitions since losing back-to-back fixtures against Liverpool and Burnley in January:

City, meanwhile, are fresh from winning the EFL Cup final against Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. Pep Guardiola's side have little left to play for in the Premier League this term, as they are all but guaranteed already to finish second.

United need to scrap for every point they can get because the race to finish in the UEFA Champions League spots is tight:

Finishing fifth could be enough this season to qualify for Europe's elite club tournament next season because of City's two-year ban from UEFA competitions.

But if United lose to City, they could find themselves as low as eighth in the table by the end of the weekend.

If Maguire is fit, Solskjaer's side will have a better chance of beating City for the third time this season because the England international is United's best defender.

   

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