Rio Ferdinand believes Manchester United are "closing the gap slightly" on Manchester City following their dramatic derby win, but feels the gulf between the clubs is "still huge".
United came from behind to take the derby spoils after a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford, where Jack Grealish's header was cancelled out by a quickfire double from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford.
Erik ten Hag's side closed the gap on their second-placed neighbours to a single point, where they are now just six behind leaders Arsenal.
Ferdinand, who won six Premier League titles and the Champions League with United, believes his former club still have a long way to go before matching their rivals, however.
"They're closing the gap slightly, but there's still a major way to go," Ferdinand said in his role as a BT Sport pundit. "I think the gulf between the clubs is still huge.
"Don't let this result take that away or let things become unrealistic. Man United have still got a way to go, but they're on the right road now. I felt something in this ground today that I haven't felt for a very long time.
"There was a belief, there was a connection between the players on the pitch and the fans again, because there's a committed team out there who are willing to fight, who won't fold under pressure, who won't fold when there's a bad spell in the game.
"That can only be good for the future of this team. The manager has to have huge compliments right now because he's building a team that are up for the fight."
Meanwhile, Paul Scholes – an 11-time Premier League winner at Old Trafford – feels United demonstrated their title credentials, but he knows the most important stage of the season is still to come.
"We've learned that United can beat a big team when the pressure is on, when they needed to," he said. "You asked before if they're in the title race – I think you have to say they are.
"If they keep people fit, they're one point behind City now. City, to me, are still the favourites, they're still the best team in this league. It's okay winning games now, but it's March, April time when it's so hard to win those games.
"Arsenal are doing really well, they look a really good team. Injuries could affect them, and they're inexperienced. They've got a manager who hasn't won a league title, players who haven't won trophies really.
"There are 20, 21 games to go. There's so far to go – this could change by February."
Nagelsmann aiming to rediscover Germany's ruthless streak despite Bosnia win
Julian Nagelsmann believes his Germany side should have been more ruthless after downing Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-1 in the Nations League on Friday.
Deniz Undav continued his scoring streak for the national side, with his brace enough to see Germany over the line despite Edin Dzeko halving the deficit in the 70th minute.
Nagelsmann's side sit top of Group A3 after three games ahead of facing the Netherlands on Monday, a side they drew 2-2 with last month.
But the Germany head coach wants to see an improvement in front of goal after dominating for large parts at the Stadion Bilino Polje against Bosnia.
The visitors ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.81 from their 12 shots, eight of which were on target, while also creating five big chances.
Germany also finished the game with 73.1% possession, though Nagelsmann said his players must find their clinical edge when they face the Netherlands.
"We didn't start so well and kept the ball on one side too much in the first ten minutes," Nagelsmann said.
"When we adjusted that, it was good and we were dominant. Given our superiority, we could have scored more goals.
"Regarding the goal we conceded, Edin Dzeko shouldn't have been that free inside the box. But the team kept control after that. We didn't want to take many risks."
Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz echoed Nagelsmann's thoughts, acknowledging his side's wastefulness in front of goal.
Wirtz impressed on Friday, creating more chances (four), playing more passes into the final third (36) and having more touches in the opposition box (six) than any of his team-mates.
"I think we made it difficult for ourselves. We could have won by a bigger margin," Wirtz said.
"Against the Netherlands we expect long balls to the striker.
"Bosnia did something similar today, but of course it will be even more difficult on Monday.
"The quality of the Dutch team is even higher."
Columbus Crew v New England Revolution: Club record points haul down to consistency, says Nancy
Wilfried Nancy wants his Columbus Crew team to continue their consistency after reaching a club-record points haul in a regular MLS season last time out.
The Crew’s 3-2 win over Philadelphia Union on Saturday took them to 60 points in the campaign, marking their 17th win of the term, also equalling the club’s single-season record set in 2008.
Columbus knows that a point will be enough to guarantee second place in the Eastern Conference ahead of the playoffs, with Nancy expressing his delight about his squad’s ability to adapt to this campaign’s hectic schedule.
“This is the idea – all the time try to grow and seek for improvement,” Nancy said. “That's why I'm really happy about this because we play 46 games.
“Last year at this moment, we didn't play the same amount of games. We have wins and we have also more points.
“For me, this is the consistency of what we are able to do, and also, this is a fact that my players want to get better. They accept all the challenges that my staff and I try to give them. For me, I'm really, really happy with that because this is so difficult.”
At the opposite end of the table, New England’s struggles continued as they fell to a 2-1 defeat to D.C. United, with Pedro Santos and Christian Benteke’s early strikes doing the damage.
The Revs have already been eliminated from the playoffs and sit just one point ahead of bottom club Chicago Fire ahead of their two final regular-season matches.
And with a trip to league leaders Inter Miami on the final day, head coach Caleb Porter said that his players have no time to feel sorry for themselves after an underwhelming campaign.
“I expect the mentality to be good. For me, nothing changes. I think about doing your job and being a pro and having pride at the end of the day,” Porter said.
“It does not matter whether you are happy or sad, it’s about doing your job. We’re still building for the future. I expect these guys to have a good mentality.
“I expect them to be motivated and wanting to do well and I expect them to have pride in their profession. I expect the group to show that they want to be here.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Columbus Crew – Diego Rossi
In the absence of top scorer Cucho Hernandez, who is away on international duty with Colombia, the Crew have a capable back-up in Rossi, who has 12 goals and eight assists in 32 regular-season appearances this season.
The Uruguayan has seven goal involvements in his four appearances against the Revs (three goals, four assists), only contributing more goals against the LA Galaxy (11), San Jose Earthquakes (nine) and Houston Dynamo (eight) in the MLS.
New England Revolution – Giacomo Vrioni
In a largely disappointing season for the Revs, Vrioni has been a shining light, scoring nine goals in his 29 MLS appearances this term.
The Albanian, however, has failed to beat this weekend’s opponents in his four appearances against them (D2 L2), while also failing to score since a 5-0 win over CF Montreal in August.
MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW WIN
Columbus are unbeaten in nine straight home matches against the Revolution (W5 D4), though the last three meetings have all ended in draws. Both teams' last win over the other in Columbus came in the playoffs; a 2020 Conference Final win for the Crew and a 2014 Conference semi-final win for the Revolution.
New England’s minus 29 goal difference (35 scored, 64 conceded) is on pace to be the worst in club history (-20 in 2011). The Revs have allowed more goals in a single season just once before (66 in 1998).
The Revs' defeat to D.C. on Saturday was the club’s 19th of the campaign, extending a single-season high for the Revolution. They have lost their last four away from home, being outscored, 11-1, in those games.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Columbus Crew – 70.9%
Draw – 16.5%
New England Revolution – 12.5%
Vancouver Whitecaps v Los Angeles FC: Sartini hoping to benefit from missing international players
Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini believes the international break will benefit his side ahead of welcoming Los Angeles FC to BC Place this weekend.
The hosts will be without top scorer Ryan Gauld along with Ali Ahmed, Sam Adekugbe, Andres Cubas, Fafa Picault and Pedro Vite as they aim to break into the top seven of the Western Conference and avoid playing in the first round of the playoffs.
However, Sartini believes that this presents an opportunity for his fringe players to step up against one of the better sides in the division, having seen his side fall to back-to-back defeats since clinching their place in the post-season.
“It is very important to win,” Sartini said. “Unfortunately, we did not do well in the last couple of games so now this game has become one where we can get back into the top seven and avoid the first round of the playoffs.
“It’s important to get back to where we have been for the last 30 plus games. We need to reset and good. I think it’s also a good think, I might sound crazy, that we have the international break.
“We have a lot of players that will need to step up and need to be there, so they come perhaps a little fresher and without the bad memories of the last couple of games.”
LAFC, meanwhile, come into the encounter on the back of four consecutive wins in all competitions, including their US Open Cup final triumph.
The Black and Gold know a victory will seal second place in the Western Conference standings after securing a 3-0 away win over Sporting Kansas City, though they too will be without three first-team players for the trip to Vancouver.
“All in all, we’re happy,” head coach Steve Cherundolo said after their last victory. “They were important points for us. A good performance.”
“For us to keep getting these results is huge,” said defender Aaron Long.
“To go as far as we did in Leagues Cup and to go all the way to the end in the Open Cup, and still be fighting for first place in the league is really tough to do.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Vancouver Whitecaps – Brian White
In the absence of top scorer Gauld, who is on international duty with Scotland, White will carry Vancouver’s goal threat for the visit of LAFC.
The American has played more games against this weekend’s opponents than any other team he has faced in the MLS (13), winning four of those (D3 L6), while scoring three times.
LAFC – Mateusz Bogusz
Bogusz has 20 goal involvements (14 goals, six assists) in 30 MLS appearances this term, netting a goal against Vancouver in LAFC’s 3-0 win earlier this season.
The Pole, however, has won just one of his three games against Vancouver (D1 L1), and he will be hoping to get his record into positive numbers this time around.
MATCH PREDICTION: LAFC WIN
The hosts are currently on 58 points with two matches left to play this term. They are trying to reach the 60-point mark for the third time in the last six seasons (2019, 2022) while no other MLS team has done so more than once in that time.
Vancouver have lost only two of their last nine regular-season meetings with LAFC (W4 D3), though one of those defeats was a 3-0 loss against the Black and Gold earlier this campaign.
The Whitecaps come into the game on the back of consecutive defeats for the first time since June. They have not lost three straight matches in all competitions since the start of the 2023 season.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Vancouver Whitecaps – 29.6%
Draw – 24.8%
LAFC – 45.6%
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