Shearer tells Carrick fixture gap is no excuse ahead of Manchester derby at Old Trafford

Alan Shearer has urged Manchester United to accept the scheduling reality of European football rather than use a fixture congestion argument as an excuse ahead of Sunday’s Manchester derby at Old Trafford.

United face Manchester City just three days after beating Sabah 4-0 in the Champions League on Thursday, while City had the benefit of playing their European fixture — a Champions League tie against Porto — on Tuesday, giving Enzo Maresca’s side two extra days of recovery.

The scheduling gap has prompted debate over fairness, but Shearer was unequivocal in his assessment. “It’s not ideal that Man United play in Europe on Thursday and City played on Tuesday, but you can’t ever use it as an excuse,” he told Betfair. “That’s what they played for last year — to get into the Champions League. So there’s no point in moaning that you now play on a Thursday and a Sunday. But I do get that they would want a level playing field with City playing on Tuesday.”

Despite the concern, Shearer backed United to raise their game for the occasion, while also flagging defensive vulnerabilities exposed in recent Premier League outings. “Man United always give a bit extra in the big games,” he said. “But now we’ve seen them against Hull, we’ve seen them against Everton last weekend, showing just how sloppy they were defensively. It’s a brilliant goal from Ainsley Maitland-Niles, but again I think they always pull something out of the bag for games like this. So I’m going to go for a draw and a point apiece.”

Carrick himself played down the scheduling concern ahead of the game. “I’m not concerned. I wouldn’t say it’s ideal in some ways, but it’s not something that we’ve given too much thought about. We’re not in control of that. We’ve got to deal with the cards that we’re dealt and that’s what it is, so we’ll make the most of it.”

Maresca echoed that pragmatism from the City camp, pointing to a similar situation his side faced last season. “The club mentioned to me that it happened exactly the same last year when the club played Napoli and then after two days played Arsenal,” the City manager said. “Sometimes it happens in football. I don’t have any doubt that Man United are going to be ready for that. That happens and you need to adapt.”

City head into the derby with a 100 per cent winning record in the Premier League this season, making Sunday’s fixture a significant test of United’s capacity to perform under pressure on home soil.