Rio Ferdinand is concerned about Manchester United wingers not delivering the kind of support that Rasmus Hojlund excels with, and he’s worried about their prospects in the upcoming derby on Sunday.

Manchester United, who have had a challenging season, have a 20-year-old star striker, Rasmus Hojlund, who has yet to score in the Premier League, he has managed to score three goals in three Champions League matches. Rio Ferdinand believes that the wingers, Antony and Marcus Rashford, should simplify their approach and work harder to provide the tall Danish striker with the necessary support he needs.

‘I think we need to get to a place where we’re actually playing to our players’ strengths,’ said Ferdinand on his FIVE YouTube channel.

‘You look at Hojlund, he wants the ball crossed. You saw the header he scored in the Champions League, you see the way he attacks crosses.

‘Get the ball wide and cross it! Antony keeps chopping back on his left foot, doesn’t cross it. Marcus doesn’t really cross from that [left] side.

‘Get past your full-back, or get a yard, and put the ball in the box! And he’ll attack it.’

Manchester United will face City at Old Trafford and have the opportunity to reduce the point difference with their rivals to just three points if they secure a victory, even though they haven’t had a strong start to the season. However, Ferdinand isn’t very optimistic about the chances of an unexpected outcome.

‘I’m scared, man, I’ve got to be honest. I’m scared,’ he continued.

‘I’m fearful, I’ve got to be honest with you. Your heart is telling you, “Maybe we can nick something and defend, defend, defend” but we’re miles off it if you look at it in terms of where City are and where we are.

‘The one positive I take going into the game is the way that the game ended the other day [against Copenhagen], I don’t think it could have ended any better for our team.

‘Harry Maguire scored the winner, but also Andre Onana making that save in the final seconds of the game and you saw the way the team was around Onana and that euphoria hopefully travels into the next game.

‘Whereas if we’d won that game 1-0 and just won it, scraped through it, you’re going into the derby on a bit of a low ebb, but hopefully a bit of confidence grew from that.

‘I don’t think it’s going to be enough confidence, but you’d like to think we’re in a better place given where that game finished.’