Southampton's Championship play-off final victory on Sunday made them Manchester United's last confirmed opponent in the Premier League for the 2024/25 season.
A relatively tight encounter with Leeds United at Wembley Stadium - just 24 hours after the Reds had beaten arch rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup final on the same turf - saw the Saints go marching on into the top flight for next term, with their slender 1-0 triumph enough to seal the deal.
Forward Adam Armstrong made the difference on the day, slotting home a calm first-half finish after taking advantage of a disjointed Leeds backline.
That goal was enough to confirm Southampton's Premier League status for next season and means that the competition's full line-up is now known.
OUR RECORD AGAINST THE SAINTS
It has not been too long since United faced Southampton in the league, as the south-coast side have spent just one season in the second tier following their relegation at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
There is set to be a new man in the dugout for the Saints this time round though. The Reds last faced Southampton with Ruben Selles at the helm on an interim basis following the club letting Ralph Hasenhuttl go. Former Norwich City defender Russell Martin has since taken charge and led his side back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
The Saints will be welcome returnees for United as our undeafeted run against the club stretches all the way back to January 2016, when a line-up including Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk narrowly edged a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford.
Since then, the Reds have faced Southampton 15 times, all but one in the league, claiming seven wins and eight draws.
That unbeaten run does also, of course, include our remarkable 9-0 thrashing of the Saints in February 2021; a game which saw eight different Reds on the scoresheet and equalled the biggest margin of victory in a game for any team in Premier League history.
Our last time out against the recently-promoted side was a calmer affair, a scoreless draw in M16 back in March 2023, so the Reds will be looking to better that and take all three points in their upcoming visit next term.
THE OTHER PROMOTED SIDES
Southampton will be joined back in the big time by Championship winners Leicester City and runners-up Ipswich Town.
The Foxes were relegated along with the Saints at the end of the 2022/23 season and have needed just a single campaign to retake their top-flight spot, making them another familiar foe to the Reds as they rise back into the Premier League this summer.
A somewhat more recently unacquainted opponent arrives with them, however, in the form of Ipswich.
The Tractor Boys have had a remarkable rise from League One to Premier League promotion in just two seasons and will face the Reds in a league fixture for the first time since 2002 during the next campaign, having been briefly reunited in the League Cup in 2015.
Coincidentally, 9-0 has been a Premier League scoreline just four times in history, with United the winning side on two of those occasions. One of the defeated sides is Southampton. The other? Ipswich in 1995.
Full 2024/25 Premier League line-up: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Ipswich Town, Leicester City, Liverpool, Man City, UNITED, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Wolves.
FIXTURE RELEASE DATE
With the full 20-team Premier League line-up now confirmed for the 2024/25 season, attention now turns to when we are set to face each opponent in next term's calendar.
Eyes will be on a whole host of key dates including our first opponent, opening home match, fixtures against rivals and our final game of the season.
Luckily, there's not too long to wait, as the Premier League have confirmed that the full schedule will be released on Tuesday 18 June at 9:00 BST, and you will be able to find out how our list shapes up via ManUtd.com and the United App as soon as it drops.