Another season is upon us, with two old rivals set to meet on the opening weekend.

Manchester United and Arsenal had contrasting fortunes in 2024-25, with the Red Devils recording their worst-ever Premier League finish of 15th, while Mikel Arteta's side were runners-up for the third consecutive season.

Ruben Amorim is set to begin his first full campaign at the helm, and he will be determined to oversee a vast improvement on last term's disappointment.

Arsenal, meanwhile, will hope to be in the thick of the title race once again, as the Gunners aim to shake off second place by finally getting their hands on the trophy.

Both sides have had busy transfer windows, including Arsenal's addition of Viktor Gyokeres, who will face off against his former Sporting CP head coach if he makes his debut, but who will come out on top at Old Trafford?

Here, using Opta data, we delve into the key insights ahead of Sunday's clash.

What's expected?

Arsenal are expected to be in the mix for the title once again this year, with the Opta supercomputer rating their chances at 24%, but that is behind Liverpool's 29.1%.

And they are being backed to begin the 2025-26 campaign with a victory on Sunday as well, as they came out on top in 46.3% of the pre-match simulations.

United's hopes of an opening-day victory, meanwhile, sit at 28.3%, while the likelihood of a draw is 25.5%.

The Red Devils have lost just two of their last 18 Premier League home games against Arsenal (W10 D6), though both defeats have been with Arteta in charge of the Gunners (1-0 in both November 2020 and May 2024).

This is just the second time in English league history that United are hosting Arsenal in their opener, previously beating them 4-1 in 1989-90.

If they do upset the odds to get a win on Sunday, it would be their 100th against Arsenal in all competitions (W99 D55 L89), but the north London side will be keen to stop United from becoming the first team to earn a century of victories against them.

The last time these sides met in Manchester, Arsenal rescued a 1-1 draw in March, extending their scoring run at Old Trafford to 11 Premier League away games (14 goals in total).

Amorim seeks solutions

The 2024-25 season as a whole was largely one to forget for United; as well as their torrid league form, they also missed out on European football after losing the Europa League final to Tottenham in May.

They had troubles at both ends of the pitch, scoring just 44 goals in total and underperforming their 53.5 expected goals (xG). And none of their players hit double figures in the Premier League, with Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo their highest scorers with eight goals.

United also conceded 54 goals, with 13 of those coming from errors they made – only Southampton (19), Ipswich Town and Chelsea (both 14) committed more such mistakes.

But they have strengthened in the transfer window, with the likes of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, who were two of only seven players to score 15 or more non-penalty goals in the Premier League last season, and Benjamin Sesko being added to their front line.

The striker, who was unveiled in United's final pre-season friendly against Fiorentina, could be in line to make his debut. He scored 13 Bundesliga goals for RB Leipzig last term, overperforming his 9.9 expected goals (xG).

United are not favourites though, so they will be hoping history is on their side as they begin a Premier League campaign on home soil for the ninth consecutive season, the longest run of any side in English top-flight history.

They have won their opening match in the competition more often than any other side (22), while also having the best win rate on MD1 of any side to play in more than one season (67%).

United did finish 2024-25 on a high, beating Aston Villa in their final game, but had gone the whole season without winning consecutive league matches. They last did so when beating Fulham on MD1, having won their final two games of 2024-25.

Arsenal aim to continue strong starts

Arteta has made his intentions clear for the upcoming season. He is targeting silverware as Arsenal aim to end their 21-year wait to get their hands back on the Premier League trophy.

They have not been too far away in recent years, though they finished 10 points behind Liverpool last term, after the Reds stormed to the title.

Having struggled for goals at times last season – like United, none of their players hit double figures in the league – they have fixed that issue with the signing of Gyokeres, who netted 39 league goals in 2024-25, more than all of Arsenal's forwards combined (34).

They have made key improvements at the other end as well, though, with Cristhian Mosquera and Christian Norgaard helping to bolster their defensive areas, while Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke are also among the additions.

In the Premier League last season, only Cole Palmer (51) completed more dribbles than Madueke (45) for Chelsea, while he also created the fifth-highest number of chances (32) in the team. 

While the Gunners' title charge may have faltered, Arteta knows that maintaining their impressive away form from last season will be key.

They are unbeaten in their last 14 Premier League games on the road (W7 D7), since a 1-0 loss at Newcastle United last November. It is their longest such run without defeat since their own record of 27 between April 2003 and September 2004 (a streak that was ended by United).

Arsenal are playing in their 100th consecutive top-flight season, the longest ongoing run (Everton are next with 72), a landmark they will be keen to mark with a stunning end, but first, they need to make a positive start.

The Gunners have won their opening league game in five of the last six seasons (L1), including each of the last three. They last did so in more consecutive campaigns between 2001-02 and 2005-06 (five).

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Manchester United – Matheus Cunha

Last season, Cunha represented a Wolves team that took the fifth-fewest shots in the Premier League (431). However, his 3.8 shots per 90 minutes were more than any other player in the league to play over 1,200 minutes.

He netted 15 goals in total last term from an xG of 8.6. He had the third-largest xG-goals differential in the league (6.4), trailing only new team-mate Mbeumo (7.7) and Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood (6.7).

Cunha was also a key playmaker for Wolves as he created 57 chances and registered six assists, also bettering his xA (expected assists) of 5.3.

Arsenal – Viktor Gyokeres

Gyokeres has been the top scorer in Europe's top 10 leagues over the last two seasons, scoring 68 goals in 66 Primeira Liga matches for Sporting across 2023-24 and 2024-25.

A goal in this match would see him become only the third player to score against United at Old Trafford on his Premier League debut, after Mo Johnston for Everton in August 1992, and Paulo Wanchope for Derby County in April 1997.

Last season, Gyokeres averaged a goal every 71.9 minutes in the Primeira Liga – only Ricardo Pepi (62.1) and Vasil Kusej (67) averaged a lower minutes per goal among forwards to score more than 10 goals in Europe's top 10 leagues.