Marcus Rashford has named the two ‘best teams’ Manchester United have beaten this season – but didn’t mention reigning champions Manchester City.
United are currently fourth in the Premier League and reached the Carabao Cup final on Wednesday evening with a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the second leg of their semi-final.
There’s been a huge turnaround in form under manager Erik ten Hag, who is already proving to be the perfect manager to restore United to glory.
Rashford’s been a huge part of that upturn in form. The England international, who only scored five goals in the entirety of last season, has scored 18 in 31 games this season.
He’s netted in victories over City, Liverpool and Premier League leaders Arsenal. Rashford sat down with Sky Sports ahead of Saturday’s game against Crystal Palace to reflect on United’s progress so far.
What they’ve managed to do is beat their top six rivals without putting in vintage performances.
United are still the only team to beat Arsenal in the league this term, while they ran out winners over Liverpool despite losing their opening games to Brighton and Brentford.
Victory over City was marred by controversy but still an improvement over last season’s drab displays. Rashford believes the wins over Liverpool and Arsenal last year were the most impressive for United this term.
He said per @centredevils: “We’ve shown at our worst that we can beat the biggest teams. It’s not just luck. We’ve had good games against the best teams in the country. Liverpool, Arsenal this season.”
Rashford is hoping to help United to their first trophy in six years. They’ll face Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final later this month, who haven’t won anything since 1955.
It’ll be an even game, with the two sides drawing 0-0 at Old Trafford back in October.
Rashford added: “The games after Christmas come thick and fast. If you manage to get yourself on a run of winning games then it’s inevitable to find yourself in situations where you can win silverware.
“At the beginning of the season it’s the first thing that everyone wants, you want to win the first available trophy. That’s the Carabao Cup. I think we deserve to be there [the final].”
Ten Hag could hand Marcel Sabitzer his debut against Palace. The midfielder joined on a season-long loan from Bayern Munich on deadline day after Christian Eriksen was ruled out until April with an ankle injury.