United to seal straightforward opener
At last, the return of the league we all all know and love! Manchester United and Leicester City get the Premier League ball rolling again on Friday evening at 21:00. Two teams with contrasting ambitions go head-to-head for the first three points of the new season and I'm tipping the hosts to run out victors.
Manchester United
With transfer dealings having to be concluded prior to the season's start this year, there's still time for United to plunge into the market to improve their squad. As I write however, 25 year-old Brazilian, Fred, remains the only major addition to arrive through the door at Old Trafford. It's highly likely a new central defender will be acquired before now and the deadline on Thursday but for the moment, a starting central defensive pair of Smalling and Bailly looks set to provide a solid backline for this game at least.
Further upfield, Sanchez had a full pre-season behind him and appears more than ready, while Rashford has returned earlier than expected from holiday to lift Joe Mourinho's mood slightly. Yet, they're to be without Lukaku and World Cup winner, Pogba, both still to return to action for United following their time spent in Russia this summer.
Leicester City
Like their opponents, Leicester are also set to supplement their squad by bringing in one or two new additions, especially with numbers pretty thin on the ground right now. Mahrez has sealed his dream move to Man City. Maguire is unlikely to start against the side courting him. Meanwhile, Vardy will miss out - this confirmed by Leicester already, leaving the visitors likely to rely on Iheanacho and/or Slimani/Okazaki. This could be a breakthrough year for the exciting Demarai Gray and it's possible the young Englishman is named in the starting XI here.
Other summer recruits Pereria from Porto, Evans from West Brom and Maddisson from Norwich City should be involved, as will Algeria international Ghezzar from Monaco, dubbed the new Mahrez in some quarters. All in all though, Leicester appear to be lacking genuine quality and could be in for a tough evening.
Match Tips
Despite the players likely to be missing for the home side, they are still strong favourites and should overcome a Leicester side likely to miss the threat posed by Vardy. However, I don't see a cohesive United in attack for obvious reasons. Therefore, I'm predicting a narrow victory for the Red Devils - a home win and under 4.5 goals in the match at odds of 8/11 (1.72) courtesy of Ladbrokes.
