Manchester United vs West Ham United. Premier League.
Old TraffordAttendance74,928.
Sunday 13 August 2017 15:32, UK
Jose Mourinho has no fresh injury concerns heading into Manchester United's Premier League opener against West Ham, live on Sky Sports.
United, who finished fifth last season but qualified for the Champions League through their Europa League success, will be looking for a speedy start as Mourinho prepares for his second full season in charge.
They've spent big on three signings - Romelu Lukaku, Nemanja Matic and Victor Lindelof - while West Ham themselves have also strengthened.
Joe Hart has come in on loan, while Pablo Zabaleta, Marko Arnautovic and former United striker Javier Hernandez have also arrived at the London Stadium.
Slaven Bilic's side finished 11th last season, 17 points worse off than the previous campaign.
Luke Shaw, Ashley Young and Marcos Rojo remain out as they continue to recover from long-term injuries sustained last season.
Eric Bailly and Phil Jones missed Tuesday's UEFA Super Cup defeat to Real Madrid through suspension, but their continental suspension does not impact domestic matches.
West Ham expect defender Aaron Cresswell to be available for their opening Premier League match on Sunday.
Captain Mark Noble has shaken off a minor toe problem which saw the midfielder miss a couple of day's training, but Michail Antonio will not be involved as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury with a run-out for the Under 23s against Everton on Friday night.
Striker Hernandez could feature against his old club, while fellow summer signings Hart, Zabaleta, Arnautovic and teenager Sead Haksabanovic could also make their Hammers debut.
Forward Andy Carroll (groin), Diafra Sakho (back), midfielder Manuel Lanzini and Cheikhou Kouyate (both knee) all continue their rehabilitation.
Three of the last five Premier League games between these two clubs have ended in a draw, with one win apiece in this run.
United are unbeaten in their last nine Premier League home games with West Ham (W7 D2 L0) - their last home league defeat against the Hammers was on the final day of the 2006-07 season.
No team has won more opening day fixtures in the Premier League than United (16, level with Chelsea).
West Ham have lost more opening day fixtures than any other Premier League club (10).
Jose Mourinho has won seven of his previous eight opening day Premier League fixtures as a manager (D1).
Mourinho has never lost a home match on a Sunday in all competitions in his managerial career, winning 86 and drawing 26 of 112 games.
Lukaku scored in seven straight Premier League matches for Everton against West Ham between 2013 and 2016, but failed to find the net in his last match against them in April at the London Stadium.
Hernandez scored 37 goals in 103 Premier League games for Man Utd, netting a goal every 130 minutes for the club.
This is the biggest Premier League season yet on Sky Sports - and there are more ways than ever to follow the action from Old Trafford.
You can watch the game live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event, with our TV build-up kicking-off at 12.30pm ahead of the early game, Newcastle v Tottenham.
There are a whole range of options to complement and enhance your viewing experience with Sky Sports. You can watch the game on the move with Sky Go or follow our live match blog, where Sky Sports customers will be able to watch all the major incidents via our mobile clips service.
What's certain is that you can put Lukaku down for a goal, so United are a goal to the good already!
But despite the new-found goal threat I don't see United winning the league, they haven't got enough guile in midfield to pick through teams who will put 10 men behind the ball.
Jose Mourinho has built a team to be big and strong, a team that will blow others away. I see that being successful against West Ham, over a 38-game season though, I'm not so sure.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0 (5/1 with Sky Bet)
Manchester United are Sky Bet's 3/10 favourites for the victory as West Ham go up against odds of 9/1 while the draw is priced at 17/4. Mourinho's side head into the season as 7/2 joint second favourites for the title, with only their neighbours City shorter odds, while their visitors are marginally odds-against for a top-half finish at 5/4.
