Revealed: Who the fans want United to play first in 2022/23
In less than 24 hours, the 2022/23 Premier League fixtures will be released, and supporters will find out who we face on the opening weekend.
The provisional schedule will be published at 09:00 BST tomorrow (Thursday 16 June), and Reds across the globe will be asking two questions about the first fixture of the season: Who are we playing? And are we home or away?
Last Thursday, we opened a poll asking you, the fans, which team you'd like to see Erik ten Hag’s side face on the opening weekend. The results were fascinating.
WHO DO THE FANS WANT?
The fixture that is the most popular among United supporters is a potential clash with historic rivals Liverpool to begin the Premier League season.
15 per cent of supporters who voted expressed a desire to see Ten Hag lock horns with Jurgen Klopp on the opening weekend. That surely would be some spectacle!
The second-most popular was rather surprising, as 12 per cent of fans said that they would like to face promoted side Nottingham Forest, in the first game of the new season.
Forest haven’t featured in the Premier League since 1999, and our last Premier League fixture against the Tricky Trees was our famous 8-1 victory at the City Ground that same year.
Perhaps this selection is swayed by nostalgia and a hint of romanticism, as supporters are eager to see Forest in the top flight for the first time in more than 20 years.
Arsenal are the next popular selection with 11 per cent, and historic rivals Manchester City and Leeds earning 10 and eight per cent of the vote respectively.
Arsenal and City are yet to face United in a Premier League opener, while Leeds visited Old Trafford in the curtain raiser in last season.
On that day, new signing Raphael Varane was unveiled on the pitch before kick-off and Bruno Fernandes scored a hat-trick in the Reds' emphatic 5-1 victory over Marcelo Bielsa's side.
Fans will no doubt be hopeful of a similar result if the Yorkshire side emerge as our opening-day opponents for the 2022/23 season.
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HOME OR AWAY?
Unsurprisingly, 86 per cent of you said you’d rather our first fixture of the new season was played at home.
The opportunity to see Ten Hag in the Old Trafford dugout for his first-ever Premier League fixture is an enticing prospect, and the support United faithful at the Theatre of Dreams would no doubt go a long way to giving the Dutchman the best possible chance at getting off to a winning start.
Be sure to keep tabs on ManUtd.com and the United App for news of our opening-weekend fixture, and our full 2022/23 Premier League schedule, when the announcement is made at 09:00 BST on Thursday morning.