Reason provided for United’s unusual start to the Premier League season – report

Manchester United have discovered when they will face their Premier League rivals next season. Start United will travel to newly promoted Hull City on 22nd August. They will kick off their home campaign against another newly promoted side, Ipswich Town, on 29th August. The next three fixtures will see United take on Everton, Manchester City, and Fulham. United’s final three league matches of the season will see them play Leeds United at home and travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. They will finish the 2026/2027 season by welcoming Fulham to Old Trafford. Request The Sun newspaper reports that United made a request to the Premier League to play their first match of the season away from Old Trafford. The paper states that, “Manchester United requested to play their first Premier League fixture next season away from Old Trafford due to extensive work on the Old Trafford pitch.” The Red Devils have not started a new season away since facing Bournemouth in 2016, which was Jose Mourinho’s first league match in charge of the club. United welcomed eventual champions Arsenal to Old Trafford last season to kick off the 2025/2026 campaign. The paper adds that, “ground staff have dug up the Old Trafford pitch for the first time since 2012 and will also install new safety measures.” This means United now have around 10 weeks to get the pitch in tip-top state before they welcome the Tractor Boys to Old Trafford on 29th August. United have faced criticism in the past for the elevated nature of their pitch and the brickwork in front of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand. It is thought that Benjamin Sesko’s injury against Liverpool at the start of last month was aggravated by tumbling off the steeper pitch. United’s opening PL fixtures SeasonOpponentScoreVenue 2025-2026Arsenal0-1Old Trafford 2024-2025Fulham1-0Old Trafford 2023-2024Wolves1-0Old Trafford 2022-2023Brighton1-2Old Trafford 2021-2022Leeds5-1Old Trafford 2020-2021Crystal Palace1-3Old Trafford 2019-2020Chelsea4-0Old Trafford 2018-2019Leicester2-1Old Trafford 2017-2018West Ham4-0Old Trafford 2016-2017Bournemouth3-1Vitality Stadium Featured image by Alex Livesey/Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.