Manchester United are entering the 2025/26 Premier League season hoping to banish the memory of their catastrophic fall from grace last term.
Courtesy of a joint effort from Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim, the Red Devils slumped to their worst-ever finish in the English top flight since they were relegated over five decades ago.
But the new season offers Amorim’s troops a clean slate. After ending last season with a 2-0 win against Aston Villa, an optimistic yet bold Amorim claimed that the storm was over.
In an interesting twist of fate, the Premier League has handed United a heavy 2025/26 starter pack that could determine whether his words carry weight or whether he jumped the gun.
Much of United’s 2024/25 season was defined by mediocrity, much like the post-Ferguson era has been in general, but they’ve taken steps to make sure that was a one-off, albeit one that will go down in the history books.
United were slow off the mark in the transfer market, but they’ve made two fantastic additions to Amorim’s squad, bringing in Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo.
A striker is still on the shortlist, and United will certainly need to add at least one midfielder if they’re serious about returning to the upper echelons of the Premier League next season.
Ideally, Amorim would like his transfer business to be done before the start of the new season. But with just two weeks until the start of the new campaign, that seems far-fetched.
While the Red Devils are working on transfer deals behind the scenes, Amorim has to work with what he has at the moment, and he has two more pre-season fixtures to experiment with before the real work begins.
With a pre-season showdown against Everton and Fiorentina leading into a blockbuster curtain-raiser against Arsenal, this August could be the start of something transformative at Old Trafford.
Here’s what August has in store for the Red Devils.
Pre-season warm-ups
There’s still work to be done before United can claim to be ready for the new season. They didn’t get off to the best start in their pre-season preparations.
After getting bested by ASEAN All-Stars in a friendly game at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, it felt like they were still being haunted by the horrors of last season. But things have taken a turn for the better.
What followed the 1-0 defeat in Malaysia was a 3-1 win against Hong Kong courtesy of highly rated youngsters Ayden Heaven and Chido Obi Martin, who bagged a brace.
United then went on to play out a drab goalless draw against fierce rivals Leeds United.
But they’ve given the fans something to cheer about after winning their last two pre-season games against West Ham United and Bournemouth in the Premier League Summer Series.
Amorim’s side will continue their tour of the United States when they take on Everton in their final Summer Series fixture on Sunday evening.
They’ll then return home to Manchester, where they’ll host 2023/24 UEFA Europa Conference League finalists Fiorentina at the Theatre of Dreams.
That’ll be their final pre-season outing before they kick off the Premier League with a baptism of fire.
Premier League fixtures in August
United get the 2025/26 Premier League campaign underway with a bang. They welcome Arsenal to Old Trafford in a blockbuster clash that will headline an opening weekend of all-round action.
As champions, Liverpool will do the honours of getting their title defence underway with a home clash against Bournemouth two days earlier, but all eyes will be on the box office event at Old Trafford.
Arsenal enter the season desperate to finally land the elusive Premier League title and end their 22-year drought.
Having finished as runners-up three seasons in a row, Mikel Arteta’s side are eager to go one better.
But history has not been kind to them at Old Trafford. The Gunners have only managed two league wins at the Theatre of Dreams in the past 18 years.
Arsenal will head into the game as favourites despite their appalling record at Old Trafford, but the records show that United are a different beast on opening day.
United have won 22 of their opening-day fixtures, more than any other Premier League club. That’s an average win rate of 66.7%.
It’s worth noting that two of their seven opening-day defeats have come in the last five seasons.
But even in the 2024/25 campaign that flew off the rails, they started the season with a narrow 1-0 win against Fulham on home turf.
That record would be a huge psychological boost for Amorim’s side.
It’s also a chance to make a statement. Regardless of the result, a strong performance would show that United are no longer an easy fixture for the Premier League title or top-four challengers.
But a limp display would confirm the fears that last season’s failures may take longer to fix. After facing Arsenal, United take on Fulham at Craven Cottage before hosting Burnley at Old Trafford.
Those fixtures will give United a chance to pick up valuable points before heading into a daunting fixture run in September. where the Reds are away for the first Manchester derby of the season, before welcoming Chelsea at home end of the month.
2025-08-02 08:44:09
