"It's the same everywhere, in the week before you can see the atmosphere building and people preparing themselves. For myself, I know especially how much a derby game is different, even from games against other big teams," the former Ajax man told the City website.
"Even though United are top of the league and playing well, because it's a derby it does not mean that they will win just because of that. That happens in Holland and Tunisia, the top team can lose to the teams well below them, and I have seen that myself.
"We have to prepare well for these kind of games, and I think we have a good team here. We are 12th at the moment, but we deserve to be a lot better in the table.
"You're not playing the history, you play the 90 minutes," he added. "They have good players but we have a good squad as well. Over 90 minutes, anything can happen.
"In football, the better side does not always win; you can get a free-kick, or a penalty or play badly but you can win. That's football, and that's why so many people like it.
"We have to believe, we have to keep working and if we do, we can win."