The ManicaPost
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s rebuilt Manchester United will have no fears about the opening weeks of the season once they have tacked their mouth-watering opening clash at home to Chelsea.
United travel to Molineux — aiming to take revenge on a Wolves side who beat them twice last season — in their second game, before matches against Crystal Palace (home), Southampton (away), Leicester City (home) and West Ham (away).
They then host Arsenal and Liverpool either side of an international break.
And for a side looking to build momentum after last season’s disastrous start, the Old Trafford outfit will be thrilled to be at home to four of last season’s top six — Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs – before their first away trip to neighbours Manchester City.
And in a season-defining first five weeks of 2020, United are away at Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea.
While the Chelsea opener is a tough start for United,there is a good omen for Solskjaer’s side as history shows that Manchester United are the team to fear most on the opening weekend.
They are the kings of opening day of the season, having won an impressive 18 of their 27 fixtures.
In 2018, after Paul Pogba’s early penalty Luke Shaw scored the decisive goal as the Red Devils beat Leicester City 2-1, taking their average points return in opening-weekend matches to 2.15.
However, last season they finished sixth in a campaign that had more lows than highs.
United finished a mammoth 32 points behind ‘noisy neighbours’ Manchester City as the blue half of the city claimed their second-successive title.
While City continued to thrive under Pep Guardiola, United stagnated under Jose Mourinho – culminating in the Portuguese’s sacking in December following their 3-1 defeat at rivals Liverpool.
That month saw club legend Solskjaer come in as interim manager – with his first game in charge being a thumping 5-1 win at Cardiff.
That result sparked a 12-game unbeaten run in the league – 10 of those victories.
However, with United seemingly set on a top-four place, they then won just two of their last nine matches — culminating in them missing out on a top-four place by five points. — Daily Mail.
