Teddy Sheringham has made an early prediction about Manchester United’s opening Premier League game of the season against Arsenal.
Manchester United’s starting XI for the opening day of the 2025/26 season is set to look fairly different as Rúben Amorim leads his squad in his first full campaign at the club.
After facing Leeds United, Everton, Bournemouth, West Ham, and Fiorentina in pre-season, the club will face Arsenal on the opening weekend of the season on a Sunday afternoon kick-off.
It is expected that United’s team could look different, with Matheus Cunha already signed and Bryan Mbeumo due to join in the coming week or so.
The club also want to add a new first-choice striker and midfielder to the mix, with Amorim making it clear that he wants all of his summer arrivals to be in place for the opening day of the season.
Sheringham worried about United’s opening game
United’s first run of fixtures is not kind – the club are set to play Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Liverpool all in the opening few months of the campaign.
Former United striker and club legend Teddy Sheringham has admitted that he worried about the opening game of the season, explaining he could see Mikel Arteta’s men putting four goals past United at Old Trafford.
“Everyone’s talking about Arsenal having a big, tough start to the season. First six or seven games, they look really tough. But I think when the fixtures came out, it was United who looked at them and said ‘oh no, Arsenal at home in the first game’,” Sheringham explained.
You can imagine Arsenal coming up there with all the confidence, all the intent right now. They’ve got the momentum, a good squad. United are still figuring it out under Amorim.
“If Arsenal go up there and roll United over… if they’re comfortable, get an early goal, a second before half-time, maybe even a third or fourth in the second half?
Arsenal are usually really strong at the start of the season, especially. You’re more likely to get a result if it’s later on and they’re looking over their shoulder a little bit. It’s only one game, but if Arsenal really roll them over, United fans are going to be putting the pressure on Amorim from the get-go.
United are signing players and getting ready for a much different season this year than last year, but they must have those concerns on their mind at the moment.
“More so than what Arsenal have on their minds. It really is a horrible game for them to start the season. If the result is bad, if the scoreline is bad, things can escalate very quickly over there.”
Sheringham is underestimating United’s preparations
Amorim made it clear during his opening few weeks at United that the club were going to go through a rocky first few months at Old Trafford with him at the helm, because he had little to no time to understand the strengths and weaknesses of his squad.
In the ensuing months, he was proven correct, as the club went through multiple poor spells marked by inconsistent performances, forcing Amorim to learn about his players on the job.
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However, with that rocky six months behind him, the head coach has admitted that he is happy he had those six months to make mistakes that he has since learned from and will not make going forward.
United will have their full squad available for a pre-season tour that will see the club play against four Premier League teams, which is fantastic preparation for the upcoming campaign. Although Aresnal are also undoubtedly a superior side on paper, Sheringham is discounting the better preparation the club have this summer.
Beyond this, Arsenal have a historic poor record against United at Old Trafford, having won just two of the last ten clashes at the ground, while United have won four and drawn four.
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