Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer claims Pep Guardiola has been handed an unfair advantage ahead of Sunday’s derby.

Solskjaer has hit out at fixture compilers for appearing to repeatedly offer the upper hand to Manchester City ahead of clashes with United.

The Premier League champions will have had an extra 24 hours rest when they travel to Old Trafford, with Solskjaer’s side in action against Derby County in the FA Cup on Thursday night.

City faced Sheffield Wednesday a day earlier.

It was the same story leading up to December’s Manchester derby, with City playing Burnley a day earlier than United took on Tottenham in an emotionally charged game against former manager Jose Mourinho.

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United still won 2-1.

Solskjaer was critical of schedulers last month for forcing United to play Chelsea on a Monday night before travelling to Club Brugge in the Europa League the following Thursday.

And now he’s hit out again, saying: “It's that help we get from the FA again, that extra 24 hours that they've (City) had. I cannot believe why there's a derby on Sunday and we've got to play Thursday night.

“What's the point in that? That doesn't level the playing field.

“It was the same when we beat them last time to be fair, we played Wednesday and they played Tuesday. Those 24 hours are important so we've got to be good at recovering now.”

City also had an extra day of preparation ahead of Solskjaer’s first derby as manager last April.

United lost 4-0 to Everton on the Sunday before the Wednesday night clash, with City playing Spurs on the Saturday.

City won that game 2-0.

Asked if United had made representations to the authorities, Solskjaer said: “I don't think we can. It's one of those where you get told when you're going to play.

"So we've not got any help before this one.”