EPL: Manchester City want 'historic' title win vs Manchester United, says Kevin de Bruyne

Kevin de Bruyne (Reuters)

Manchester City want to give their supporters a “historic” day by clinching the Premier League title against bitter rivals Manchester United, their midfielder Kevin de Bruyne said.

Pep Guardiola’s City face the mouth-watering prospect of being crowned league champions for the third time since 2012 if they beat United at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

“We are going to relish this position,” De Bruyne told British media.

“These are the games you play the whole season for. It would be wonderful, something different – you know how it goes between them, you know the history, so it would be historic,” the Belgian added.

“The sooner we do it, the better. Then we can focus on other games. It’s a tough run. We play Liverpool, United, Liverpool again and then Tottenham (Hotspur). It’s pretty impressive, eh?”

City cruised to a 3-1 victory over Everton on Saturday to maintain their 16-point advantage at the top of the table.

De Bruyne felt the team delivered a sublime display at Goodison Park and the Belgian playmaker is hopeful they can deliver a similar performance at Liverpool in the first leg of Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday.

City’s only league defeat this season came at Anfield where they conceded three goals in nine second-half minutes as Liverpool won 4-3.

“It’s the Champions League, the quarter-final, it is all or nothing. You have two games, so hopefully we will go there, do our thing and have a good game,” De Bruyne added.

“I think in last game against Liverpool we had a spell of 10 minutes where we lost the control... otherwise I think we did alright.

“In the end, it was 4-3, it happens, you learn about these things, and I think we know we have to control it better. Let’s see if we can control it better, do these things properly.”