Man Utd have discovered their 2026/27 Premier League fixture list and Michael Carrick will be delighted with what he has been given.
A couple of weeks ago, Omar Berrada put on record Manchester United’s ambition of winning the Premier League within the next two seasons. “Ideally, we do it next season,” said the chief executive, in what felt like a statement infused with the momentum generated over the last six months.
And after assessing the Premier League fixture list for the 2026/27 season this morning, that confidence will have only strengthened inside Old Trafford. Yes, everyone has to play each other twice, but when the fixtures fall really does have some influence on how events play out.
Michael Carrick probably couldn’t have picked a better start to the campaign and continuing to ride that wave of momentum is absolutely essential if United are to launch a title challenge next season.
We’ve been here before in recent years, when it has felt like things were back on a positive trajectory at Old Trafford and success was within touching distance, only for the wheels to fall off, often in spectacular fashion.
Carrick gives the impression of someone unlikely to oversee an implosion and although he would never say it publicly, he will fancy his chances of getting off to a flyer as permanent head coach as well.
United begin the season with a trip to Yorkshire to face newly-promoted Hull City. The Tigers were shock play-off winners and don’t look to have a squad equipped for the Premier League, while also needing to sell to balance the books.
Nobody saw their promotion coming, but it feels like everyone sees their relegation coming and for clubs like United, taking six points off them is a must.
Ipswich Town will put up more of a fight and they are United’s first opponents at Old Trafford, but they have lost manager Kieran McKenna, which is a blow to the Tractor Boys. Two promoted sides in the first two games is a dream start.
A trip to Everton, where United won last season, follows, and then comes Manchester City at Old Trafford. The Blues will also have a new man in the dugout, with Enzo Maresca set to replace Pep Guardiola. Is it better to play them early, while Maresca’s ideas are still bedding in and City are getting used to a summer of change? United will hope so.
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It should all add up to the chance to get off to a really strong start. Trips to Fulham, Leeds and Chelsea also come in the first 10 games of the season, with Tottenham and Bournemouth the other visitors to Old Trafford.
Perhaps the biggest impediment to United’s chances of progressing from their third-place finish last season is that they are back in the Champions League. Carrick’s success in the second half of last season was built on a schedule of just 17 games, all of them in the Premier League, and only two midweek rounds.
That will change now. United will hope to progress further in both domestic cups, but they are guaranteed eight games in the league phase of the Champions League, which will be a drain on resources, will reduce training time and require rotation.
We won’t know those Champions League fixtures until August, but we do know when they fall, and the good news for Carrick is that United are at home after five of those eight matches. That is what managers want, reducing the risk of a trip to Europe in midweek and then a trip in the Premier League at the weekend.
United are actually at home after four of their first five Champions League fixtures, with the only away game in that run a short hop across the Pennines to face Leeds. Again, it would be hard to pick a better set of fixtures.
They do have two trips to London after games in Europe: in December, when they play Crystal Palace, and in January, when they play Brentford. That will be a test, but the good news is they don’t face any ‘big six’ rivals away from home after a European game, while Manchester City and Liverpool visit Old Trafford after European weeks.
There will, of course, be bumps in the road. United need to get recruitment right first of all to strengthen the squad, then Carrick and his coaching staff have to show they can adapt to a much more demanding season.
But on paper, this is exactly the kind of fixture list they would have been hoping for.
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