Hull City welcome Man United for season opener

Agosto 21, 2026 lojamais44@gmail.com

By Filip Mishov

The Tigers face their toughest Premier League opponents in maiden game

Hull City are back in the Premier League for the first time since 2016/17 after securing a dramatic promotion through the Championship play-offs, and the Tigers begin the new campaign by hosting the Red Devils at the MKM Stadium.

Sergej Jakirović‘s squad have enjoyed a positive pre-season (2W, 2D, 1L) and the ultimate aim is to earn safety this season with the board investing around £78 million in 11 new signings so far. However, Sunderland and Leeds United last season are the only two of the last nine newly-promoted clubs to survive in the top flight over the past three seasons, and they have a terrible Premier League-era record against United (W0, D2, L8).

A familiar face provided a glimpse of Manchester United’s dismal and not-so-distant past, as Ruben Amorim led Milan to a victory against his former club in the final friendly match ahead of the new season. Michael Carrick might, however, be pleased with the squad’s overall performance (3W, 1D, 2L) during pre-season, but Bruno Fernandes & co. lacked both intensity and quality against the Rossoneri in Poland, and if the Red Devils are to replicate last season’s third-place finish or potentially even challende in the title race, a massive improvement is much needed.

Key players

Oli McBurnie fired the East Yorkshire club back to the Premier League by scoring a stoppage-time winner in the Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium in May and the 19-goal striker will be Hull’s main threat again this season. The Scotland international finished as the second-highest scorer in the Championship last term, while only Žan Vipotnik (with 26) boasted a higher number of goals + assists, which deservedly earned him the Player of the Year award at the MKM Stadium.

Youri Tielemans arrived at Old Trafford this summer to soften the blow of Casemiro‘s departure and to ease the creative burden on Bruno Fernandes with the Belgium captain leading Aston Villa‘s ranks in terms of tackles per 90 (2.8) and accurate long balls per 90 (2.9) last season. The 29-year-old was FotMob’s highest-rated player (7.15) at Villa Park last term and the so-called ‘Capi’ is expected to be a key player under Michael Carrick, with the fans especially excited about his partnership with Fernandes, the 2025/26 Premier League Player of the Season.

Team news

Sergej Jakirović will face a major challenge to pick a strong starting XI with up to 10 first-team players on the sidelines, the most by any Premier League side ahead of the new season, but Nobel Mendy, the club’s new record signing who arrived from Rayo Vallecano, is in line to make his debut.

Things are a little better in Michael Carrick’s squad, as Karl Darlow and Benjamin Šeško are back in first-team training, but the latter hasn’t played a competitive minute since early May while Matthijs de Ligt, Manuel Ugarte and Mason Mount will be missing through injuries.

Prediction

Despite the Red Devils struggling in their final pre-season match, the Tigers are without a number of players and Hull’s Premier League record against Manchester United is poor, to say the very least. So, I expect Michael Carrick’s squad to open the new campaign with a victory – it might not be a flashy one, but three points is all that matters to get the 2026/27 season going.