De Ligt tells why he is now hitting top form at Man Utd and commanding defence

Matthijs de Ligt is showing his his strength and leadership in Manchester United's defence this season and he says why he is now delivering his best football.

The Dutch centre-half joined United from Juventus for £43million a year ago and now he is finding his form after a difficult first season for all the players at the club.

De Ligt has been praised for his performances and he scored a dramatic injury time winner to extend United's unbeaten run in the Premier League to five games on Saturday away to Spurs.

And now he has told of why he is now playing with more confidence. "Well, the first thing I think was really important is that I had a proper pre-season. I feel for me and my body a pre-season always is really important," said De Ligt.

"I think it was one of the first pre-seasons since five, six years that I didn't have a transfer or an injury or the Euros. So the last time was probably my last season in Ajax and it was actually one of my best season in my career.

"So I feel that's a big thing that is really important until now. I feel mentally and physically in a really good place. I feel quite confident. Obviously the teammates and the manager help a lot because they give me confidence.

"I think I'm also used to the Premier League now, the pace, what helps also. I think overall these are the most important things that makes me to this level at the moment."

De Ligt has told ManUtd TV how he is more aggressive due to having this confidence. "I think this season I'm more aggressive also because I feel more confident, I feel like physically I'm in a really good place," he said.

"If I'm physically in the right place, I feel like I can dominate attackers in that way, with speed and strength. That makes it also easier to be aggressive because you know you can always recover if you maybe miss a duel or miss a ball.

"So that makes me also more aggressive. So I think it's something I have naturally, but I also have to be physically on top level to really do that game after game."