Two of English football’s giants will face each other on the opening weekend of the 2025-26 Premier League season, as Manchester United hosts Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday 17th August at 4:30pm. This marks United’s ninth consecutive season starting their campaign at home. The match will be broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports Premier League.
Bukayo Saka to score anytime (47/20 with BetMGM)
Although he missed a portion of last season, Bukayo Saka finished as Arsenal’s fifth-highest goalscorer with six goals. After scoring against Nottingham Forest and Wolves, he could become only the third player in the club’s history to score on the opening matchday in three consecutive league seasons. The only other players to achieve this feat are Geoff Strong (1962/63, 1963/64, 1964/65) and Thierry Henry (2001/02, 2002/03, 2003/04).
Under 2.5 goals (1/1 with BetMGM)
After a series of four matches that featured a total of over 2.5 goals, the most recent encounters between Manchester United and Arsenal have resulted in fewer than 2.5 goals in each of the last four meetings. We’re expecting another close match between two sides that have made plenty of changes over the past few months and we can see this one settled by the odd goal in a low scoring affair.
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How both teams go into Man Utd vs Arsenal
You can hardly blame Man Utd for wanting to forget the 2024-25 season. It was a campaign marked by another managerial change, resulting in their worst-ever Premier League finish—15th place with just 42 points. This was their lowest league position since the 1989-90 season and the fewest points they had in a top-flight season since their relegation campaign in 1973-74.
At home, they won only seven of their 19 matches, suffering nine losses, which ties for the most in the club’s history. Moreover, only the relegated teams—Leicester City, Ipswich, and Southampton—scored fewer home goals than Manchester United.
Arsenal finished the Premier League season in second place for the third consecutive year. However, this time, Mikel Arteta’s team scored fewer than 70 goals. While they experienced fewer defeats compared to previous seasons, their overall points total was negatively affected by 14 draws, more than the combined total of 11 draws in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons.
Despite having the league’s second-best away record, with 35 points earned on the road (which accounts for 47.3% of their total), and only Liverpool (11) and Nottingham Forest (10) had more away victories, no team boasted more away draws (8) than the Gunners, with one of those coming at Old Trafford.
Man Utd team news
There is no return date for Noussair Mazraoui, who is dealing with a thigh injury. However, his fellow defender Lisandro Martinez will not be seen in a Man Utd jersey until the start of 2026, but the same cannot be said for summer acquisitions Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, who could make their full debuts here.
Arsenal team news
Defensive stalwart Gabriel is expected to be available after recovering from a thigh injury. However, his teammate Gabriel Jesus is still recuperating from a knee injury. Big summer signing Martin Zubimendi is set to make his Arsenal debut in this match, while fellow midfielder Christian Nørgaard, who recently transferred from Brentford, may also get some playing time.
Man Utd vs Arsenal head-to-head
Arsenal are unbeaten across their last five Premier League meetings with Man Utd (one draw and four wins). In fact, Man Utd have won one of their previous seven league showdowns (five losses and one draw) against the north Londoners.
| Date | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| 09/03/25 | Man Utd 1-1 Arsenal | Premier League |
| 12/01/25 | Arsenal 1-1 Man Utd | FA Cup |
| 04/12/24 | Arsenal 2-0 Man Utd | Premier League |
| 12/05/24 | Man Utd 0-1 Arsenal | Premier League |
| 03/09/23 | Arsenal 3-1 Arsenal | Premier League |