Manchester United vs Manchester City: Louis van Gaal talks up Red Devils' failure to turn up for special games

Louis van Gaal has revealed that he dreams of beating Manchester City in the much touted Manchester derby on Sunday, having failed to beat their noisy neighbours in their previous five encounters.

However, the manager is also wary of their failure to win in big games when the pressure was on them to perform, like against Arsenal in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

The reverse fixture between the two sides ended in a 1-0 loss for the 20-time Champions, heavily influenced by Chris Smalling's sending off after some heinous tackling from the England international.

However, form is on LVG's side this time around, with the Red Devils winning their last five Premier League fixtures compared to City, who have lost three in the same period.

The rich vein of form has seen United catapult City to third spot, with the reigning Champions languishing in fourth and with an outside chance of missing out on Champions League football should they lose at Old Trafford.

Only Arsenal have a better record in the Premier League over the last couple of months, with the Gunners going on a seven-game unbeaten streak and a win here for LVG would all but ascertain their position in the top four, with Liverpool currently eight points behind.

However, the Dutchman is not too perturbed by the notion of losing this game against City, stating that their failure to win against Swansea over both legs is a bigger concern than losing against a team who were competing for the title for a better part of the season.

"Of course I dream of it, that is not the problem. Every player dreams of victory. I have to think with my staff and my players, already a lot of days, how we have to beat Manchester City," LVG said in his press conference.

"You go through that process to win against your next opponent. Of course you want to win. It is a big step in the table also. When you win, third place is reachable and a month ago nobody was thinking about that, besides me of course. That is good because then you are certainly in the Champions League and then we do it better than the goal we had in the pre-season.

"It is a special game and we have to show it and they do also. That is also when you have lost. We have lost against Arsenal in the FA Cup, it was also very disappointing for us, but nevertheless we continued our form in the Premier League," he concluded.