While Manchester United are often expected to challenge for honours, and the Jose Mourinho era has delivered two major trophies so far, it’s fair to say that storm clouds are gathering over Old Trafford. A rather tempestuous pre-season tournament in the USA, complete with poor transfer dealings, means that United come into their season opener with Leicester City in rather irritable mood.

United News

The Red Devils will be short of some key players, with the likes of Antonio Valencia, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial likely to miss out. With Mourinho criticizing Martial for his tardy return from his child being born, and also calling out Valencia for getting injured, there’s not much harmony in the United dressing room at present.

With so many key players missing and a rather quiet transfer window going on, it’s hard to see any surprises for United come the big kick-off barring a total change in the pacing of their transferring dealings.

Leicester News

The Foxes have had a challenging summer, too, with Riyad Mahrez going out the door to Manchester City. With Harry Maguire still likely to move on, too, it’s interesting to see how the former champions handle the expectation of a new season.

Incomings have been quite understated, though, which should help add some life to the way that Leicester play. Disjointed summer windows has led to a chaotic pair of seasons, and it’ll be interesting to see how they handle a quieter transfer window – will it make them more consistent?

Verdict

Hard to say; opening weekends often produce some major shocks. United, though, are in much lower mood than Leicester: any kind of result for the Red Devils, though, will be enough as they try to tread water until their more established names return to the side.