The new Premier League season kicks off at Old Trafford on Friday night as Manchester United open up what feels like a big campaign for themselves when they play host to Fulham in the first game of a busy opening weekend.
Both these teams probably have a little to prove over the coming weeks and start the season under a bit of a cloud of pressure so a win here would lift some of the doubts and offer up a solid start to the campaign.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League channels with the build-up to the season opener beginning at 6.30pm ahead of the 8pm kick off.
Manchester United
After winning the FA Cup at the back end of what I think it is fair to say was an ordinary campaign at Old Trafford last term, the ambition for Manchester United now has to be to improve their standing in the league table. This isn’t a club that is used to being outside the top four let alone down in sixth place at the end of a season so there is a huge premium on improvement this time around. Consistency will be a big thing at Old Trafford but an opening win can help start that process.
Home form is going to be important for Manchester United this season and all eyes will certainly be on them here to see if there is an improvement from last term. It all looked a little bit clunky in the attacking areas in the Community Shield last week but the fact that they had that slightly more competitive hit out should stand them in good stead for this game even allowing for the shorter turnaround. In an ideal world, United will deliver a convincing performance at both ends of the pitch here.
Fulham
In a lot of ways it is hard to know what to expect from Fulham this season but you would suspect their ceiling isn’t naturally as high as it has been in previous campaigns at the time of heading into this opening match, although as we all know making long-term predictions in this league prior to the transfer window closing is largely pointless. On the face of it though, they look like a mid-table side who have stood fairly still over the summer and generally in sport when you stand still and invite others to overtake you, they usually do.
Those doubts can all be put to bed with a solid performance here and a positive result and particular in the central areas of the park where the departures of the likes of Tim Ream, Tosin and Joao Paulinha look to leave the Cottagers a little light on Premier League depth and quality, again with that caveat of there being half a month left of the transfer window here. The flip side is if they take a beating by a United side not necessarily expected to sparkle straight away, doubters get louder.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account and bet £10 to get up to £20 in free bets! Perfect offer for the Premier League! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Team News
Manchester United are without a trio of players for their season opener as summer signing Leny Yoro, Rasmus Hojlund and Luke Shaw are out with injuries but new additions Mattheus de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui could make their debuts.
Fulham have no injury issues going into this match which means that Cottagers fans can expect to see new signing Emile Smith Rowe making his competitive debut for the club. Ryan Sessegnon could also be involved after a return to Craven Cottage.
Betting
I think there are enough question marks over these two sides not to go steaming into this one with a great deal of recklessness, although I do believe it to be an advantage that United opened their season up in the Community Shield last Saturday. That was more than the average pre-season friendly in terms of its competitiveness and that should have them more up to speed here but I’m still not yet completely in the area where I can trust them too much.
The bet that interests me here is Alex Iwobi to have a shot on target at 5/4. He scored the winner here a season ago and he has the one thing which Manchester United struggle against – pace. I think it is fair to say that he is erratic in his play and when he is good he is more than useful but when he’s off it he looks terrible but hopefully on the opening night of the season he is on it. He scored in a friendly against Benfica a couple of weeks ago and he’ll be up against an unnatural option at left-back here. You can get 5/4 on the former Arsenal man hitting the target and a player who has decent movement can deliver on that.
Tips
Back A.Iwobi – Over 0.5 shots on target for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Coral
