United Briefing: De Gea draws on title experience

A win or a draw at Burnley on Tuesday night – in our rearranged match originally scheduled for the start of the season – will take Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men top of the Premier League, going into Sunday’s huge clash against Liverpool at Anfield.

De Gea picked up a title winners’ medal in 2013, having been part of the team which cruelly lost out on championship glory to Manchester City a year earlier.

Our no.1 knows all about the ups and downs of title races and he insists the Reds must not let the opportunity to challenge for English football’s top prize slip away.

“Yes I have been fighting for the title in a couple of seasons when Sir Alex was here. Now we are there again and it’s taken us a lot of time to get there to be honest and we cannot miss this chance,” David insists, during an interview with club media’s Stewart Gardner.

“We have to be very, very focused in every game and try to win all of them. Hopefully if we are good physically and mentally then we can be there and we can fight for sure for the Premier League.

“It’s true there is a lot to play yet, but of course it’s a chance to be there, to be top of the league,” he adds, when asked about the significance of going top now, even though there are still many games to come.

“It’s a good challenge for us. We will play against a difficult team in Burnley, away from home, but if we want to win the league then we have to win these type of matches. I’m saying the same thing, but all we can do is focus on each match, take it game-by-game and be 100 per cent focused.”

De Gea recently set a club record for Premier League appearances by a non-British player and he is now fifth in our all-time PL appearance chart. And, he insists, there are many more games to come from him yet.

“I’m very, very proud to reach that number of games. It’s great for me. I feel good, confident and proud. I’ve played a lot of games but hopefully like I said there are many more to come,” he declares.

“I feeling very well. I’m training hard, feeling sharp and confident in the games. When you feel well and train well then in the games it’s easy to play. You have to be focused of course and always play at 100 per cent and helping the team is the most important thing. The team is winning and in good form so everything at the moment is good.

“We have won many games in a row away in the Premier League – that’s not easy,” he adds. “Now everything is very tight, the team has improved a lot, but every Premier League match is difficult and Burnley will be, like I said, a big fight. But we have another chance to make a big step to win the Premier League.”

WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY?

The big match kicks off at 20:15 GMT and it will be broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports.

You can follow all the action on ManUtd.com and in our Official App, of course, where you can also track in-game data using our Match Centre. MUTV will also provide build-up, live radio commentary and post-match reaction, as well as showing full reruns of the game the following day.

Remember, the line-ups will be officially announced at 19:15 GMT.

Make sure you return to our channels after the final whistle for exclusive reaction from Solskjaer and his players.

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY?

The manager provided the latest team news during his pre-match press conference, which is available to watch in full. 

Young goalkeeper Nathan Bishop signed a new contract and the club and it was announced that Academy defender Luca Ercolani is returning home after five seasons in Manchester. 

The Emirates FA Cup fourth-round draw paired us against Liverpool, before the fifth-round draw revealed another potential tie.