- 1 Hull City vs Manchester United: 12 out for one side, 12 wins from 17 for the other
- 2 Hull City: a promoted side hit by a wave of injuries
- 3 Manchester United: settled momentum and record creativity
- 4 Premier League prediction Hull City vs Manchester United
- 5 Before anything else, a word on our free picks
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information that changes
- 8 Your role
- 9 Responsible gambling first
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About the images…
Hull City vs Manchester United: 12 out for one side, 12 wins from 17 for the other 
Two numbers tell the story at the MKM Stadium. Hull City head into the opening weekend without 12 players, while Manchester United arrive with 12 wins from their last 17 Premier League games under Michael Carrick.
The sporting backdrop only widens the gap. The Red Devils are coming off a top-four finish and will be in the Champions League, while the Tigers are back in the top flight after winning the Championship playoffs.All
The recent head-to-head record points the same way. In seven meetings across the past 15 years in all competitions, Hull have beaten Manchester United once, with the Mancunian club winning five.
The last Premier League clash between these two finished 0-0, in a season that ended with Hull going down six points short of safety. They have not been back at this level since.
Hull have not exactly been standing still, though. The club has spent around 70 million pounds this summer to strengthen the squad, with more arrivals still expected before the window shuts.
Even so, that spending has not yet had time to settle. Recruits arriving late and in numbers usually means a bedding-in period, and newly promoted sides tend to feel that pain right away.
Kick-off is Saturday 22 August at 12:30 UK time, 13:30 in France, at the MKM Stadium. The bookmakers make Manchester United 2/5, Hull City 17/2 and the draw 4/1.
Hull City: a promoted side hit by a wave of injuries 
The return to the top flight could hardly come under worse conditions. Cody Drameh, John Egan, Jens Hjertø-Dahl, Matty Jacob, Paddy McNair, Liam Miller, Hidemasa Morita, Jack Butland, Darko Gyabi, Charlie Hughes, Oscar Zambrano and Eliot Matazo are all unavailable.
Jack Butland’s absence is the biggest blow. The international goalkeeper is out with an arm injury, which leaves Konstantinos Tzolakis to start in goal against one of the league’s strongest attacks.
The defence is a mess too. With Charlie Hughes and John Egan sidelined, Semi Ajayi will have to marshal a patched-up centre-back pairing with Lucas Herrington, a duo with no Premier League experience together.
In midfield, the losses of Gyabi, Zambrano, Matazo and Morita leave the area almost stripped bare. Regan Slater and Matt Crooks are expected to hold things together, both of them forged at a lower level.
Up front, Hull still have two real threats. Oli McBurnie scored 18 last season and Joseph Gelhardt added 15, and those numbers go a long way towards explaining the club’s promotion.
The question is who gets them the service. With four midfielders missing and the defence likely to sit deep, chances could be thin on the ground.
Joseph Gelhardt is the other attacking route with his 15 goals last season. His partnership with McBurnie carried Hull up, but it has never been tested against Premier League defending.
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Manchester United: settled momentum and record creativity 
United’s finish to last season was their best run for years. Under Michael Carrick, they won 12 of their last 17 Premier League matches, a pace that belongs in the top-four conversation.
That turnaround was built around one man in particular. Bruno Fernandes created 136 chances in the league last season, the highest total in the Premier League.
Around the Portuguese midfielder, the squad has plenty of attacking options. Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha were used regularly in that spell and give Carrick different ways to break down a deep block.
There is an injury list on the United side as well, though. Tom Heaton, Karl Darlow, Mason Mount, Lisandro Martinez, Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte and Mathijs de Ligt will all miss the trip.
Those absences mainly hit the depth and the centre of defence. Harry Maguire and Ayden Heaven should line up at the back, with Noussair Mazraoui and Luke Shaw out wide.
The expected midfield pairs Youri Tielemans with Andrey Santos, two players who can keep the ball against a packed defence. Senne Lammens will start in goal.
The side markets tell you how much faith there is in that XI. Lammens to keep a clean sheet, Matheus Cunha to have two or more shots on target and Bruno Fernandes to provide two or more assists are among the most-backed options for this match.
Probable Hull City line-up: Tzolakis; Coyle, Ajayi, Herrington, Giles; Slater, Crooks; Belloumi, Dowell, Stroud; McBurnie
Probable Manchester United line-up: Lammens; Mazraoui, Maguire, Heaven, Shaw; Tielemans, Santos; Amad, Bruno Fernandes, Mbeumo; Cunha
Premier League prediction Hull City vs Manchester United
Our prediction: Manchester United -1 handicap
United to win outright is priced at 2/5, or 1.40, which is too short to touch. The -1 handicap pushes the price back into playable territory while keeping the same read on the game.
The case rests on the scale of the mismatch. Hull are set to field a backup keeper, a makeshift centre-back pairing and a midfield missing four players against a team that won 12 of its last 17 league games.
Bruno Fernandes’s creativity, after leading the league with 136 chances last season, is exactly the sort of thing that hurts a tired, compact defence.
The numbers back it up too. Hull have beaten Manchester United just once in their last seven meetings over the past 15 years, and they come into this one with the weakest squad of the three promoted sides.
Take Manchester United with a one-goal handicap.
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