Hull City aiming to rewrite history as Premier League new boys face Man Utd test

[p]That's the joint-most times they've faced an EPL team without beating them, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chelsea/4fGZN2oK/"]Chelsea[/a] being the other side to stop the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/hull-city/S66R0t75/"]Tigers[/a] from getting all three points.[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-united/ppjDR086/"]Man Utd[/a] haven't lost an opening-day fixture to a newly-promoted team[/h2][p]The hosts have lost eight and drawn two of their 10 games against both, whilst the only teams that the Red Devils have an even better record against are [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/charlton/fXf5mQ7t/"]Charlton Athletic[/a] (16 matches without a win), [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/birmingham/SWk4muv7/"]Birmingham City[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/qpr/lrMHUHDc/"]Queens Park Rangers[/a] (both 14 matches).[/p][p]History is against Hull, too, as United haven't lost an opening-day EPL fixture to a newly-promoted team. To date, they've won nine and drawn three, with that particular run beginning with the 3-0 victory over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/newcastle-utd/p6ahwuwJ/"]Newcastle[/a] back in 2010/11. [/p][image alt="Hull City v Man Utd - Win probability" id="3d3fe9a0-0d6f-46e1-9ff0-4b8355195522" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="6fa51b77-301a-4565-aaef-945f210fb617" original-width="2160" original-height="2702" /][p]Furthermore, they've won their opening match of a Premier League season on 22 occasions, and no team has done so more often.[/p][p]To give even more context to just how difficult an assignment this could be for Sergej Jakirovic's side, United have scored the most goals of any Premier League team in 2026 (36), have the joint-most wins with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Arsenal[/a] in the calendar year (12), have earned the most points (41), and have lost the second-fewest games (two).[/p][infobox id="02b45e73-9abc-454d-882a-650a1a621f7d" /][h2]Six players out for Hull[/h2][p]By contrast, Hull had the second-lowest xG (-20.6) of all of the Championship's 24 clubs last season, faced the third-most shots (681), and had the fifth-fewest shots themselves (515). Not to mention that they were the first side from England's second-tier since [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/blackpool/8EFIJthC/"]Blackpool[/a] in 2010 to be promoted despite finishing sixth.[/p][p]Intriguingly, however, only the Red Devils and Blackpool have a better win ratio for games played on the opening day, as the Tigers have won 60% of their Premier League games on matchday one, including their last one in 2016/17 against then reigning champions, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/leicester/KrrdAMyI/"]Leicester City[/a].[/p][embed guid="88043f30-295b-412b-a83d-fea59d1ecfc4" url="https://x.com/HullCity/status/2090400955825373213" social-type="twitter" /][p]They'll certainly need to be better in defence than they were that season, as 80 goals conceded was the most of any club during that campaign.[/p][p]Jakirovic is already at a disadvantage, too, given that he has six players definitely out for Saturday lunchtime's game ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gelhardt-joe/WGFi8qJm/"]Joe Gelhardt[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hughes-charlie/6g38rVdf/"]Charlie Hughes[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zambrano-oscar/fBF6C2X2/"]Oscar Zambrano[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/butland-jack/C4qdueLP/"]Jack Butland[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gyabi-darko/jN0xqtWQ/"]Darko Gyabi[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/matazo-eliot/MLhWDvEe/"]Eliot Matazo[/a]), and two more ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jacobs-matty/6RlMuFJP/"]Matty Jacob[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/morita-hidemasa/Y3AIyFGA/"]Hidemasa Morita[/a]) facing a late fitness test.[/p][h2]Carrick has only lost once against the Tigers as a manager[/h2][p]The Bosnian will be the 28th different nationality of manager in the Premier League, and none of the last eight who were making their Premier League debut managed to win their opening fixture (L5, D3). [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-city/Wtn9Stg0/"]Man City[/a]'s Manuel Pellegrini was the last to do so back in 2013.[/p][p]With fellow promoted side [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/coventry/GOvB22xg/"]Coventry[/a] to come in the next fixture before hosting [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aston-villa/W00wmLO0/"]Aston Villa[/a], if Hull are able to get at least a point against the Red Devils, it will set them up nicely for those first few games of the season, and give them the opportunity to build up some confidence.[/p][embed guid="1d8c0a96-1044-4766-8a34-a314c60057c4" url="https://x.com/ManUtd/status/2090477627635007738" social-type="twitter" /][p]For the visitors, Michael Carrick won't be able to call upon the services of either [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ugarte-manuel/IksYqIr8/"]Manuel Ugarte[/a] or [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-ligt-matthijs/hhRKVBXN/"]Matthijs de Ligt[/a], whilst [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sesko-benjamin/QDozP4IN/"]Benjamin Sesko[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mount-mason/lOA8VKIK/"]Mason Mount[/a] face late fitness tests to determine their availability.[/p][p]As a manager, Carrick has lost only one of six matches against Hull in all competitions, drawing one and winning the other four. He's also unbeaten in three at the MKM Stadium (W2, D1).[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/hull-S66R0t75/manchester-utd-ppjDR086/?mid=zc0VjBZF"]Follow Hull City vs Man Utd with Flashscore![/a][/b][/p][h2]Clash of styles expected[/h2][p]After ending the season in the Champions League positions and having strengthened across the summer with the captures of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/andrey-santos/vDrVnIrd/"]Andrey Santos[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tielemans-youri/GtkTQyib/"]Youri Tielemans[/a] amongst others, United will want to get off to the best possible start against a team who'll aim to make life difficult in front of a sell-out crowd.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ipswich/thqhB2MB/"]Ipswich[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/everton/KluSTr9s/"]Everton[/a] are their next two fixtures before a mouth-watering clash against a new-look Man City, so United will also want to begin their 2026/27 campaign in the best possible way.[/p][image alt="Hull City v Man Utd - Recent head-to-head results" id="c1cab751-1ad8-452a-86b5-7acdb2139ff3" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="db4adca8-f14e-4de8-86f8-66ce619d8a67" original-width="2160" original-height="2702" /][p]A clash of styles is expected, with the low block from Hull likely to frustrate an all-out attack from the visitors for long periods. The experienced [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mcburnie-oliver/rNFSg6i4/"]Oli McBurnie[/a] can also be relied upon to lead the front line with aplomb, and his physical attributes will certainly cause a few problems for United's back four.[/p][p]If [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fernandes-bruno/GYvAMDm2/"]Bruno Fernandes[/a] is given licence to roam, however, he could prove to be the difference, as he was on so many occasions in 2025/26.[/p][infobox id="8a8311c3-81b3-440e-8b49-36091db073d1" /]