Hull’s assistant head coach Dean Holden came on the Monday Night Club this week and spoke really well about how they will approach the Premier League. It sounds like they will be horrible to play against, and will be happy to go direct when they have to.
With them starting at home, getting a result against Manchester United – who Holden is a big fan of – could really make their season.
I think they will be competitive, but my worry for Hull is from looking at how they did last year, when they lost a third of their games in the Championship.
As a story, Sergej Jakirovic getting them from 21st place into the play-offs, and then up, is remarkable. Now they just need to hang on in there in the Premier League, but that will be very difficult.
United have not done much in the transfer market this summer, but Youri Tielemans is a really good signing – a safe signing, if there is such a thing – like Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo were last year.
As things stand, they are going to be stretched by being in the Champions League and I do feel like Carrick over-achieved by getting them there.
Now the expectations are rising following their third-place finish, but they are nowhere near Arsenal at the moment.
I think them having European football, while Tottenham and Chelsea don’t, will have a huge bearing on the season, which is why I left United out of my top four.
They should begin with a win, but this is the start of a full-on campaign for them, which makes it far more difficult, and they will need to add to their squad.
Sutton’s prediction: 1-2
Liam’s prediction: There will be a party atmosphere at Hull but that might play into our hands. Hopefully we can start this season the way we finished the last one – I had us down to win this 2-0 but I hate that because it sounds conservative, so I am going bigger. 0-3
Liam on Marcus Rashford’s future at United: I love Marcus, and the fact he is one of ours, and I would love him to come back and be as good as he was for us. We know what a player he can be and if anyone can get it out of him at United, it is Michael Carrick – he might know exactly what Marcus needs.
I think about walking on stage at a hometown gig and I know how that feels. If I was Marcus, I’d be thinking ‘I am going to make this work’ because of how special it could be if it does. Every part of me wants that to happen, but I don’t know if it will.
AI’s prediction: 1-3