Manchester United explain game plan to stop Man City threat ahead of Old Trafford derby

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Manchester United take on Manchester City at Old Trafford this afternoon in a huge game at the top of the Women's Super League

Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner believes Women's Super League (WSL) rivals have been giving Manchester City striker Bunny Shaw too much space in the box and preventing that will be part of their plan to stop the Blues this afternoon. The top two in the WSL meet at Old Trafford on Saturday, with the Blues looking to take a step closer to the title.

City find themselves eight points clear of second-place United heading into the derby that is expected to draw a bumper crowd at Old Trafford. Part of their success this season has been Shaw's goals.

The 29-year-old has bagged 18 goals in as many WSL matches, and she scored a hat-trick last time out in a 5-2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. Ahead of the game, Skinner was asked how he intends to stop Shaw's goal threat. He responded: "To be honest, I think you have to mark her first in the box because I think there are a lot of teams who are giving her a lot of space.

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"She is an incredible footballer and someone who we have a lot of respect for. Manchester City have some fantastic footballers but you have got to be street wise and you have got to be street smart.

"Every footballer gives you the way they want to play, form dictates whether they do that more frequently or not, and confidence does as well. But I think you have to be clever and you have to be smart in the way we do that.

"They are going to create chances but we have to be resilient in these moments and find the right spaces to block… and hit them and hurt them. The last time we played them, with a two-day turnaround, we out-possessed them.

"So we need to hurt them with the ball as well, that will be key, not just defending their fantastic footballers. There has got to be balance to the game."

While City are looking to continue their march to the WSL title, United are halfway through a huge week in their history. Unlike the Blues, the Reds were in Champions League action on Wednesday night.

A 3-2 defeat to Bayern Munich at the Theatre of Dreams has left United with an uphill battle to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League. After the derby, they will face Bayern in the second leg at the Allianz Arena.