Ole Gunnar Solskjaer taunts Man City with size claim ahead of Manchester derby

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Pep Guardiola face off tonight [Courtesy]

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer taunted Manchester City ahead of today's derby by insisting United remain the bigger club – despite their fall from grace.

City have won back-to-back titles and rewritten the Premier League record books, while United's last league triumph came in 2013 under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Despite having lost their way since Ferguson left, Solskjaer claimed United will always be a bigger club than City, ahead of the Etihad Stadium showdown.

Solskjaer also took a playful dig at City by saying “At least we play them every year now”, a reference to City's turbulent past, with the Blues having fallen down to the third tier in 1998.

Asked if United still dwarfed City, despite having fallen behind them in the league table in recent seasons, Solskjaer said: “Yeah.

"But, with the size of our club, we're going to have to bridge that gap, and our aim is to go past the teams above us.

“I believe that's what we have to aim for, that's we have to go for and that's what we have to believe in, because we do have the resources to do it, we do have the people to do it, so why not?

“As long as we're going in the right direction and we get there, that day when we do is going to be a very good day.”

City boss Pep Guardiola responded to Solskjaer by claiming every fan thinks their club is the biggest, but conceded United are ahead in terms of success.

"For United's fans, they'll always be the biggest club,” said Guardiola.

“For the City fans, they'll always be the biggest club. We love our clubs.

“Each fan loves their club and that's why they support them. It doesn't matter if you have a lot of success in the past, it's part of what they feel.

“If you're looking at the trophy cabinet, they are better, no doubts about that.

“Numbers are numbers and in that situation they've lifted more titles than us. But we're trying to be there for as long as possible.”

Solskjaer dismissed the notion catching City is impossible, because of their superior spending power.

“I don't agree,” said Solskjaer. “What are you going to do? Are you going to give up? Not challenge them? That's what we've got to get back to.”