Team news
Manchester United give debuts to Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire, while Frank Lampard prefers Mason Mount to Christian Pulisic. Tammy Abraham, who made two appearances as substitute in 2015-16, starts his first league game for Chelsea.
Manchester United (4-3-3) De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; McTominay, Pereira, Pogba; Lingard, Rashford, Martial.
Substitutes: Romero, Mata, Young, James, Greenwood, Matic, Tuanzebe.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Kepa; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Zouma, Emerson; Jorginho, Kovacic; Pedro, Barkley, Mount; Abraham.
Substitutes: Alonso, Kante, Caballero, Kenedy, Giroud, Pulisic, Tomori.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
Updated
There’s just over half an hour remaining at St James’ Park, where Newcastle are playing Arsenal. You won’t believe the score!
This transfer news, from the PA wires, is best digested with a nice Chianti
Highly-rated Monaco teenager Hannibal Mejbri is heading to Manchester United in a $10m deal, subject to FIFA clearance.
The 16-year-old’s future has been subject to widespread speculation this summer, with Leicester and Tottenham among those understood to be after the midfielder.
But United have announced that they have “reached an agreement with Monaco for Hannibal Mejbri to join the club subject to FIFA approval”.
PA understands the deal to be worth up to $10m (£9.3m), with the Ligue 1 club receiving half up front and the rest in potential add-ons.
Bjorn Hardley, previously with NAC Breda, is another player awaiting international clearance, but United have confirmed three other under-18 players have received the required clearances.
Dillon Hoogewerf has arrived from Ajax and Mateo Mejia from Real Zaragoza, while goalkeeper Johan Guadagno has joined from IF Brommapojkarna.
United also announced that Under-23 squad members Paul Woolston and Luca Ercolani have signed new contracts.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of more football. Between them, Manchester United and Chelsea have won the title in 18 of the 27 Premier League seasons. This year, they start as 50-1 outsiders. Let that marinate for a few seconds: before they’ve kicked a ball, Manchester United and Chelsea are 50-1 to win the title.
For both teams, the realistic grail is fourth place rather than first. Both have been in endless transition – United since 2013, Chelsea since about 2007. And though Chelsea have managed to win a few titles in that time, an extraordinary achievement in many ways, such fleeting relationships with managers rarely create the same memories.
And so, after trying all kinds of coaches, both clubs have gone back to what they know: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Frank Lampard, who manages Chelsea for the first time today. The biggest challenge for those two is to juggle the short- and long-term. They need to satisfy the instant demands of modern football – these days, even the neutrals have a sense of entitlement – to buy themselves enough time to rebuild a broken dressing-room.
In a sane culture, they would be guaranteed at least three years to invest in young players – whether they be homegrown, like the Masons, Greenwood and Mount, or imported, like Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Christian Pulisic. But Solskjaer and Lampard will not get that guarantee; not at these clubs, not even with their popularity.
A good start is important, then – particularly for United, given the toxic end to last season. There will still be plenty of opening-day optimism at Old Trafford, especially if the two XIs include a handful of those young players. If all concerned show enough patience, United and Chelsea shouldn’t be 50-1 outsiders in years to come. But that’s a pretty big if.
Kick off is at 4.30pm.
Updated
