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Our superb opening-day record

by
Michael Plant
Thursday 08 August 2019 05:00

Manchester United kick off a new Premier League campaign against Chelsea on Sunday and are hoping to maintain our excellent record in opening-weekend fixtures.

The Reds have won 18 of our previous 27 games around the first weekend of the season, more than any other club. Since the Premier League began in 1992, United have averaged 2.15 points per game from the opening weekend fixtures, a record no other side, who have played more than five seasons in the division, have bettered.

Even more impressive is our record during the first home match of the season. The Reds have won 20 of our 27 opening Premier League games at Old Trafford.
Video
Relive the best bits from last season's opener against Leicester City.

Since losing our very first home match of the Premier League, against Everton in 1992/93, United have been beaten just once in our opening Old Trafford fixture of a campaign - that came in 2014, against a Gylfi Sigurdsson-inspired Swansea City.

Last season was a much more enjoyable opener for the Reds, as we beat Leicester City 2-1, thanks to goals from Paul Pogba and Luke Shaw.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men will be hoping for similar success in Sunday’s clash with Chelsea, which will, incidentally, be the Norwegian’s first opening weekend as a Premier League manager.

We’ve only met the Blues once before in our first match of a new season, in Jose Mourinho’s maiden game in English football in 2004. It was Chelsea who won that encounter, with Eidur Gudjohnsen grabbing the only goal in a 1-0 win for the west Londoners.

That game was one of just three previous occasions when we have met a so-called ‘top-six’ side on the opening weekend, with the other two coming in wins against Tottenham Hotspur in 1998 and 2015.

The 2019/20 season will also be the ninth time we’ve kicked things off by playing a club from the capital. United fans will no doubt have fond memories of the last time this happened, two years ago, in 2017, when we beat West Ham United 4-0 at home.

Of those eight previous games, United have an impressive record of seven wins and just one defeat.
Video
The Reds beat West Ham 4-0 on the opening weekend in 2017.

OVERALL RECORD IN OPENING MATCHES

Played: 27 Won: 18 Drawn: 4 Lost: 5.
Biggest win: 5-1 v Fulham (H), 2006.
Heaviest defeat: 3-1 v Aston Villa (A), 1995.
Most frequent opponents: Everton/Newcastle United (three previous meetings).
Top scorer: Wayne Rooney- 7 goals.

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