Premier League Matchweek 1 Preview and Prediction
Premier League football returns on Friday night as Manchester United start their campaign at home to Fulham, with Erik ten Hag aiming to atone for last season’s failures.
United ended a dismal 2023-24 season in eighth, their worst finish in Premier League history, before the FA Cup final victory over rivals Manchester City seemingly saved Ten Hag from the sack.
The Dutchman repeatedly cited injury and fitness issues for those struggles, and the squad has been strengthened with four new players over the summer; teenage centre-back Leny Yoro, forward Joshua Zirkzee and Bayern Munich pair Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui have been added to his ranks.
Having overcome interest from Real Madrid for Yoro’s signature, the 18-year-old will reportedly be unavailable until around late October/early November. He sustained an ankle injury in a pre-season friendly against Arsenal.
Luke Shaw is also ruled out, but Victor Lindelöf could return for Friday, with Harry Maguire, Jonny Evans, Lisandro Martínez and Diogo Dalot acting as a makeshift back four in Saturday’s Community Shield defeat to Man City at Wembley.
Evans missed the crucial spot-kick as Man Utd lost 7-6 on penalties in that showpiece after Bernardo Silva’s late equaliser cancelled out Alejandro Garnacho’s second-half opener.
Rasmus Højlund will be another sore miss up top for the Red Devils, with the striker expected to be out until September with a thigh issue. Ten Hag has already suggested returning loanee Jadon Sancho could start in that position as Zirkzee, signed from Bologna, gets up to speed.
United will, at least, have the comfort of Old Trafford once more on Friday night. They have started the season at home in 10 of the last 11 league campaigns, with this set to be their eighth fixture in a row – a Premier League record.
Expect goals, too, regardless of who leads the line for Ten Hag. The last seven opening matches in the competition have seen a total of 25 goals (3.6 per game), with the previous five in a row all seeing one side win by at least a margin of two goals.
Fulham boss Marco Silva has enjoyed the opening fixture recently as well. He is unbeaten in his last nine league openers (W3 D6) encompassing games with Estoril (W1), Sporting CP (D1), Olympiakos (W1), Watford (D1), Everton (D2), and Fulham (W1 D2).
Silva’s last such defeat came in the Primeira Liga with Estoril in 2012-13 (2-1 vs Olhanense), and Fulham’s form in such fixtures suggests his strong run could continue.
The Cottagers have only lost their opening Premier League match in two of their last nine seasons at this level (W4 D3), keeping six clean sheets across those nine games.
Andreas Pereira will hope to hit the ground running against his former club, and Emile Smith Rowe will join the Brazilian after his arrival from Arsenal. Smith Rowe scored on his only previous Premier League start against Man Utd at Old Trafford, a 3-2 defeat with the Gunners in December 2021.
However, only three players have scored away against United with two different London clubs in the Premier League – Darren Bent (Fulham, Tottenham), Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal, Tottenham) and Frank Lampard (Chelsea, West Ham).
Silva will be hoping Smith Rowe’s attacking nous, coupled with the likes of Alex Iwobi, Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traoré, can help Fulham improve on their 13th-placed finish in the league last season.
Manchester United vs Fulham Head-to-Head
Ten Hag will fancy his chances of opening with a win, considering United have lost just four of their 34 Premier League meetings with Friday’s opponents (W24 D6).
However, one of those defeats came in their most recent encounter as Iwobi’s 97th-minute winner clinched a 2-1 victory after Maguire had restored parity late on. Calvin Bassey had opened the scoring in the second half at Old Trafford.
Indeed, three of the last four meetings between this pair have resulted in an away triumph, with each of those coming courtesy of a 90th-minute winning goal (two for Man Utd, one for Fulham).
Man Utd have also lost their last two Premier League outings against sides from London, with that aforementioned Fulham victory in February and Arsenal’s 1-0 win in May. London clubs haven’t won three consecutive league visits to Old Trafford since a run of five between December 1985 and September 1986, though.
PREDICTION: HOME OR DRAW & OVER 1.5 @1.38
Ipswich Town vs Liverpool FC: AWAY WIN @1.34
Arsenal FC vs Wolverhampton Wanderers: OVER 2.5 GOALS @1.45
Chelsea FC vs Manchester City: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE @1.48
