Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has downplayed the significance of postponing Manchester City's title celebrations by beating them in this weekend's derby clash.

The Sky Blues will be confirmed as Premier League champions if they defeat the Red Devils, but the Portuguese coach insists that winning points to secure second place is more important than getting one over on a rival club.

"My motivation is to finish second, I still have the motivation of finishing top four, because mathematically is not done, is a good distance but not mathematically done so that's the first objective," Mourinho told reporters during his pre-match press conference.

"But after that I don't hide that in practical terms and next season especially next season to finish second third or fourth is exactly the same, because you don't win the title but you qualify directly to the Champions League group phase.

"But I prefer to finish third and fourth and second and first, and because we are in the second position for many many months, obviously it is our objective to fight for that and for that we need points. So my objective for tomorrow is to try to have points that can help us to finish second."

The Manchester derby takes place at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening.