Updated: Manchester United Prepare for Premier League Opener
This article was updated on 17 September 2026 to bring supporters up to date on Manchester United’s preparations for the new Premier League season. Michael Carrick has already spoken publicly on the challenge ahead, and his comments remain the clearest guide to how the club views the weeks to come.
United begin the campaign away to newly promoted Hull City on Saturday, before welcoming fellow promoted side Ipswich Town to Old Trafford. Both matches carry extra significance because United return to the Premier League’s top table off the back of a third-place finish last season, a result that also secured their place back in the Champions League. That combination of a fresh top-flight return for their opponents and United’s own European ambitions sets the tone for the opening weeks.
That third-place finish also means Carrick’s squad enters the new season with heightened expectations from supporters, on top of the raised profile that comes from competing in Europe again. Saturday’s trip to Hull City is the first opportunity to show those expectations are justified.
Michael Carrick Dismisses ‘Favourable’ Start Labels
Carrick has firmly rejected any suggestion that facing two newly promoted clubs in quick succession hands United a soft start to the season. Asked directly whether the fixture list had been kind to his side, he dismissed the idea without hesitation, pointing instead to the difficulty every team in the Premier League now presents.
Well, I think first of all, for all of us who know this league, there’s no favourable start. I think it’s a tough start, both teams,
The manager drew on his own experience of facing newly promoted opposition, insisting those games are rarely as simple as they look on paper. Away trips to sides fresh into the top flight, he said, bring their own unique set of problems that United must be ready to solve.
But not getting past Saturday, I think a newly promoted team away from home is a tough, tough game. I’ve been involved in them in the past, so I’m fully aware of what’s at stake, what’s coming at us on Saturday, what we’ve got to be ready for.
Carrick was equally direct when pushed on whether commentators and supporters were being unfair by describing the opening fixtures as gentle. He made clear the dressing room shares none of that view and is preparing for two demanding matches rather than an easy passage into the season.
So, it’s not favourable. It’s an easy thing to throw out there, but it’s pretty ridiculous and we’re certainly not taking it that way at all.
He also addressed the atmosphere Hull City are likely to bring to the fixture, acknowledging the lift that promoted clubs typically feel in their first weeks back among the elite. That energy, he suggested, is exactly the kind of factor that makes Saturday’s game unpredictable.
There’s that freshness, there’s that buzz around the football club of coming into the Premier League and what that brings.
For a wider view of how figures connected to the club have reacted to the season’s early talking points, Gary Neville’s latest comments add useful context from outside the dressing room.
How Manchester United Champions League Form Impacts the New Season
Manchester United’s Champions League return is the direct reward for finishing third in the Premier League last season, and it is already shaping how Carrick talks about the campaign ahead. He believes last season’s form has given the squad real confidence, though he is careful not to let that spill into complacency.
I think the run of form that we had last season gives us a lot of confidence, but then we know there’s a whole new step to make as a group.
That new step, in Carrick’s words, covers the raised standard that comes with competing in Europe again alongside a tougher Premier League field now United sit back among the top sides. Every fixture, including the visits of promoted clubs, forms part of the adjustment the group has to make. Carrick has pointed to pre-season as an early sign the squad is responding to that challenge.
I’m really encouraged with the work we’ve done pre-season, on the training ground, mostly in the games, I think it’s been really good.
He offered no further detail beyond that assessment, and nothing has been confirmed about squad depth or injuries ahead of the weekend. Supporters looking for the fuller picture of the business done over the summer can revisit our coverage of earlier transfer reports from before the window closed.
What Happens Next for Manchester United
Attention now shifts to Saturday’s trip to Hull City, the first real test of whether Carrick’s pre-season optimism can be turned into points on the board. Ipswich Town’s visit to Old Trafford follows soon after, giving United back-to-back fixtures against sides with everything to prove in their return to the top flight.
Carrick’s message throughout has been consistent. No fixture against a promoted club should be treated as routine, and his players must approach both games as difficult assignments rather than a gentle introduction to the season.
We know what the game’s going to bring and how good we need to be to get the right result.
Supporters will get their first look at how the squad responds under those expectations when the teams are confirmed on Saturday. Carrick’s pre-season message has been about readiness rather than reassurance, and that approach will be tested from the first whistle.
The full detail of Carrick’s pre-match briefing, including his assessment of both opponents, is available in Carrick’s comments on the opening fixtures. This article will be updated again once the result at Hull City is known.
