Arsenal
Ruben Amorim might be working the gauntlet to begin his first full season as Manchester United boss. The Premier League launched the fixture checklist for the 2025-26 season on Wednesday, with Amorim’s aspect set to face 2024-25 runners-up Arsenal on the opening day of the season.
The conflict towards United’s historic Premier League rivals might be adopted by a visit to Fulham, after which a house match towards Burnley earlier than the primary worldwide break.
Issues won’t get any simpler because the Reds return to motion with a Manchester Derby on the Etihad, adopted by a house match towards Chelsea. That makes three video games towards groups that completed in final season’s high 4 within the opening 5 video games of the season. It’s going to be sink or swim for Ruben Amorim coming off his first preseason with the membership.
If there may be any regret, each Chelsea and Manchester Metropolis are competing at this summer season’s FIFA Membership World Cup, and it’s unknown how that competitors could have an effect on them within the early a part of subsequent season.
On paper, United have essentially the most tough opening 5 video games within the league. The names could look daunting, however whenever you evaluate the matches to how United fared within the corresponding fixtures final season, this begins to look so much higher.
Of the primary 5 matches United will play, the Reds didn’t lose any of the corresponding fixtures final season. You’ll should get to matchweek seven to discover a match they misplaced – a visit to Brentford. The truth is, over United’s first 9 fixtures this season, there’s just one loss from corresponding fixtures final season, with United choosing up 15 factors in these fixtures.
Contemplating United misplaced 18 occasions within the Premier League final season, that’s pretty much as good a begin as you may hope for, although it means issues are actually going to get more durable rapidly.
We’re not naive to suppose that United will robotically repeat the outcomes of final season. For all of the losses that they may flip into wins, it’s actually potential that a number of the constructive outcomes towards the large sides go the opposite method if United don’t come out of the gates firing.
The early match towards Burnley may very well be a more durable take a look at than it seems. This model of Burnley has grow to be a pack-it-in-defensively type of workforce, conceding simply 16 objectives in 46 video games within the Championship final season. Count on United to have a lot of the ball and the territory in that match, which is the kind of situation that Amorim’s aspect struggled essentially the most with final season.
On the identical time, Burnley may symbolize the most recent chasm within the distinction between the Premier League and the Championship. They might discover themselves hopelessly outmatched proper after they step on the pitch. We’ll have to attend till they begin kicking the ball to truly discover out.
December seems to be one other daunting month for Amorim. United have misplaced 9 Premier League video games within the final two Decembers, and this 12 months will face West Ham, Bournemouth, Newcastle, and Wolves at dwelling whereas making journeys to Aston Villa and Wolves. Of all these fixtures, it was solely Aston Villa away the place United obtained a outcome final season – a colorless 0-0 affair beneath Erik Ten Hag.
The early a part of the season could have the large names, however issues don’t get any simpler as we transfer into the autumn. That’s not precisely sudden. 14 groups completed above United final 12 months – six groups did the double, with Bournemouth coming inside seconds of being a seventh. None of these six groups even completed within the high 4. Each match is towards a troublesome opponent.
If United come out of the gates sturdy and navigate by means of these opening 5 matches, there isn’t any respite. Their most important rivals could also be quickly out of the best way, however they’re nonetheless working by means of a gauntlet each single week. Equally, in the event that they don’t come out of the gates sturdy, there isn’t a possibility to proper the ship towards softer opponents.
The schedule isn’t going to make or break United’s season. What’s going to decide how United does this season is just United themselves. In the event that they’ve improved, that’ll present itself of their early-season fixtures towards groups that that they had hassle with final season. If Amorim doesn’t get enchancment out of this workforce, they’re going to get crushed by 11 or 12 groups once more, with a few of them doing it twice.
Right here’s the total checklist of Manchester United’s 2025-26 fixtures, which is clearly topic to vary because the TV networks begin choosing and selecting which video games they need to televise. We must always anticipate to see a rise in Friday and Monday night time matches as Sky will definitely look to reap the benefits of United having free midweeks.
17/08/2025 16:30 Manchester United v Arsenal
23/08/2025 15:00 Fulham v Manchester United
30/08/2025 15:00 Manchester United v Burnley
13/09/2025 15:00 Manchester Metropolis v Manchester United
20/09/2025 15:00 Manchester United v Chelsea
27/09/2025 15:00 Brentford v Manchester United
04/10/2025 15:00 Manchester United v Sunderland
18/10/2025 15:00 Liverpool v Manchester United
25/10/2025 15:00 Manchester United v Brighton
01/11/2025 15:00 Nottingham Forest v Manchester United
08/11/2025 15:00 Tottenham v Manchester United
22/11/2025 15:00 Manchester United v Everton
29/11/2025 15:00 Crystal Palace v Manchester United
03/12/2025 20:00 Manchester United v West Ham United
06/12/2025 15:00 Wolves v Manchester United
13/12/2025 15:00 Manchester United v Bournemouth
20/12/2025 15:00 Aston Villa v Manchester United
27/12/2025 15:00 Manchester United v Newcastle United
30/12/2025 20:00 Manchester United v Wolves
03/01/2026 15:00 Leeds United v Manchester United
07/01/2026 20:00 Burnley v Manchester United
17/01/2026 15:00 Manchester United v Manchester Metropolis
24/01/2026 15:00 Arsenal v Manchester United
31/01/2026 15:00 Manchester United v Fulham
07/02/2026 15:00 Manchester United v Tottenham
11/02/2026 20:00 West Ham United v Manchester United
21/02/2026 15:00 Everton v Manchester United
28/02/2026 15:00 Manchester United v Crystal Palace
04/03/2026 20:00 Newcastle United v Manchester United
14/03/2026 15:00 Manchester United v Aston Villa
21/03/2026 15:00 Bournemouth v Manchester United
11/04/2026 15:00 Manchester United v Leeds United
18/04/2026 15:00 Chelsea v Manchester United
25/04/2026 15:00 Manchester United v Brentford
02/05/2026 15:00 Manchester United v Liverpool
09/05/2026 15:00 Sunderland v Manchester United
17/05/2026 15:00 Manchester United v Nottingham Forest
24/05/2026 16:00 Brighton v Manchester United
