Manchester United kick off their 2026/27 season on Saturday lunchtime with an away match against Hull City in the Premier League.
Head coach Michael Carrick has almost a full squad available for the match, with Karl Darlow, Manuel Ugarte and Mason Mount the only absentees. Some players are lacking match fitness, though, and will almost certainly not start. These include Matthijs de Ligt and Benjamin Sesko, who have both missed the entire pre-season as they have been recovering from injury.
Defence
Senne Lammens will be in goal.
Carrick has been interchanging Diogo Dalot and Nous Mazraoui in the right-back role in the warm-up games. He could go either way, but we think he will go with the Portuguese.
Lisandro Martinez has only 30 minutes under his belt so far and he looked out of condition for that half-hour spanking by AC Milan. However, Carrick tends to favour seniority and we would not be surprised if Licha lines up alongside Harry Maguire at centre-back, with Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven, who have both shone in pre-season, having to make do with places on the bench.
Luke Shaw will be at left-back.
Midfield and Attack
Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans are almost certain to be the central midfield pivot. Kobbie Mainoo has had very little football over the summer, having been unplayed by Thomas Tuchel during England’s World Cup campaign. What’s more, due to England reaching the semi-finals he only just returned from holiday in time to get a few minutes against the Rossoneri.
With Ugarte and Mount out, therefore, this is one area of the pitch where there will not be any surprises.
Bruno Fernandes is nailed on to start in the number 10 role. Up front, Benjamin Sesko might get a few minutes off the bench, but he will not start. Carrick has several options; Marcus Rashford, Matheus Cunha, Josh Zirkzee and Bryan Mbeumo can all play up top.
We have gone for Mbeumo to lead the line with Cunha on the left wing and Amad on the right. The Cameroonian has scored a few goals playing there in pre-season.
Rashford is unlikely to start purely due to lack of minutes in pre-season. Patrick Dorgu has played well on the left wing over the summer and could keep his place there. So we have gone with Amad – Mbeumo – Cunha but it could just as easily be Amad – Mbeumo – Dorgu, Mbeumo – Cunha – Dorgu, or even Mbeumo – Rashford – Cunha.
Substitutes
It would be great to see Sesko and De Ligt getting a few minutes from the bench; we might find out whether that’s possible in Carrick’s press conference at 4.30pm this afternoon. The bench is likely to be the strongest it has been in a long time, with the likes of Heaven, Yoro, Mazraoui, Mainoo, Dorgu, Zirkzee, Shea Lacey and Rashford to call upon if our predicted XI is correct.
Final Thoughts
- Maguire and Martinez the centre-backs
- Santos and Tielemans in midfield
- Mbeumo likely to lead the line
Kick-off on Saturday is at 12.30pm.
