Man United at risk of unwanted historical first in Hull City Premier League opener

Manchester United will be out to extend an all-time club record and avoid an unwanted first when they face Hull City in Saturday's Premier League opener at the MKM Stadium.

Michael Carrick commences his first full campaign as Red Devils manager following a largely promising pre-season period, which featured a draw against European champions Paris Saint-Germain and a 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid.

Man Utd's summer programme did finish on a sour note, though, as the 20-time English champions lost 4-2 to Ruben Amorim's AC Milan in Wroclaw.

Nevertheless, Carrick's men are firm favourites to get the better of their newly-promoted hosts, especially as Hull are facing significant injury problems ahead of the lunchtime kickoff.

History is on the Red Devils' side too, as the visitors have never lost a top-flight game when facing a newly-promoted team in their first gameweek of the season, going unbeaten in their 12 such contests.

Man United yet to lose Premier League opener against newly-promoted team

Man United have earned nine wins and played out three draws in matchday one fixtures against teams to have played in the second tier the year before, although they have not played such a fixture since the 2010-11 season.

That year, the Red Devils strode to a 3-0 win against Newcastle United, courtesy of goals from Dimitar Berbatov, Darren Fletcher and Ryan Giggs at Old Trafford.

Man Utd unsurprisingly also boast one of the best matchday one win ratios in Premier League history, coming up trumps in 22 of their previous 34 opening-weekend fixtures, giving them a 65% victory rate.

Only Blackpool - one win from one such game - can show off a better MD1 win ratio, although Hull have won 60% of their opening Premier League battles, admittedly from another small sample size.

The Tigers have prevailed in three of their previous five maiden contests in a Premier League campaign, including in their last top-flight season in 2016-17, which began with a win over then-champions Leicester City.

Hull could break unwanted club record against Man United

However, the head-to-head history between Man United and Hull does not favour the hosts, who are still searching for their first-ever Premier League win against the Red Devils.

The Tigers have faced their upcoming visitors on 10 occasions in the competition and have only avoided defeat on two occasions, a 0-0 draw at home in 2015 and identical stalemate at Old Trafford in 2017.

Should the Championship playoff winners fail to take three points on Saturday, they will break their unwanted club record for the most Premier League games without a victory against a single opponent.

Hull's 10 PL matches without a win against Man United is level with their dismal record against Chelsea, whom they have also posted eight losses and two draws against in the Premier League era.

Meanwhile, Man Utd have only faced three teams more often in the Premier League without suffering a single loss - Charlton Athletic (16), Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City (both 14).