I'll be perfectly honest I could've used another week or two before the bulldozer that is a futbol club season starts again, but since it's here we may as well enjoy it and really United-Leicester isn't a terrible way to kick things off. Most reports around United have focused on this being Mourinho's third season, aka the one where things fall apart. Not an article or podcast fails to mention it, to the point where it has become a trope, and yet it does seem that these could be dangerous times for the Portuguese manager, from a lack of recruiting while City and Liverpool got stronger, to Pogba's potential departure. Clearly the squad as it is has enough strength to aim for the top 2 or 3, but this opener will give some early insights to a narrative that many outsiders seem to have already accepted.
For Leicester the offseason has been more prosaic, with the odd burst of news around Harry Maguire's newfound status as a very expensive transfer target. Mahrez is finally gone but clearly Claude Puel did not expect otherwise. Reinforcements have not been splashy, but some of them (Rachid Ghezzal from Monaco) could prove astute. After last year's very stable season, mostly spent around the 8th spot, the team will probably aim for something a little higher.

On the tail-end of the gameday Unay Emery takes his new squad out to face a City team that looked season-ready last week, uh assuming Claudio Bravo isn't involved in proceedings again. Emery has let a lot of personnel go while signing mostly unknown entities with high potential. Taking on such a big opponent in week 1 is probably not the easiest way to get a squad to jell together, though adversity has a way of making things happen quicker. And with a visit to Stamford Bridge on the cards for week 2, Emery will be hoping for minimal hiccups for his PL beginnings. He can at least draw optimism from having two top top strikers well rested from a WC-less summer.

EPL
Fri 10 Aug 2018
3:00 Manchester United - Leicester
Sat 11 Aug 2018
07:30 Newcastle - Tottenham
10:00 Bournemouth - Cardiff
10:00 Fulham - Crystal Palace -
10:00 Huddersfield - Chelsea
10:00 Watford - Brighton
12:30 Wolverhampton - Everton
Sun 12 Aug 2018
08:30 Liverpool - West Ham
08:30 Southampton - Burnley
11:00 Arsenal - Manchester City