Hull City are back in the Premier League for the first time since 2017, as they host Manchester United at the MKM Stadium in the first lunchtime kick-off of the Premier League season.
Hull City secured promotion back to the Premier League for the first time since 2017, with a dramatic last-minute winner from Oli McBurnie at Wembley against Middlesbrough. The game itself was marred by the story of how Middlesbrough reached the playoff final, amidst the spygate scandal conducted by Southampton. The Tigers will have to recruit well in order to stay in the division, and to their credit they have moved to sign experience in Jack Butland and Matthew Targett on free transfers.
As for Manchester United, they head into the new season with another permanent manager, with Michael Carrick being the third full-time manager at Old Trafford in three seasons. Carrick earned the job with his excellent showing as interim during the second half of the season, which led Manchester United back to Champions League football. Now Manchester United head into the new season looking to consolidate their position, although the transfer business has been lacklustre.
Whilst the signings of Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos could be seen as shrewd deals, their departures has seen the Red Devils only land a £28m net spend, with Coventry City and Ipswich Town spending more in the market. Arguably, they still need a midfielder and a left back, which was evident given their lacklustre display against Ruben Amorim's AC Milan side.
Manchester United should have enough quality to overcome Hull City and key to that will be Bryan Mbeumo. Mbeumo is likely to feature against the Tigers in a central position given the fitness concerns of Benjamin Sesko.
For this fixture, we are leaning towards a 3-1 win for United, with Hull possibly scoring first.
Hull City 1-3 Manchester United
