Manchester United vs Leeds United Premier League Match Preview
Manchester United and Leeds United are set to face in their opening top-flight league matches of the season for the first time since 1970-71, with Leeds winning 1-0 at Old Trafford with a goal from Mick Jones ahead of finishing runners-up in the league that season.
Leeds are winless in their last 16 league visits to Old Trafford against Manchester United (D6 L10) since a 1-0 win in February 1981, and lost 6-2 there last season. Leeds have played more Premier League matches at Old Trafford without winning than any other stadium (13).
Manchester United lost their first Premier League match last season, losing 3-1 at Old Trafford against Crystal Palace. They haven’t lost their opening top-flight match in consecutive seasons since 1972-73 and 1973-74, going on to be relegated in the latter season.
After going 14 consecutive top-flight seasons without losing their opening match between 1990-91 and 2003-04, Leeds suffered a 4-3 defeat against Liverpool last season. They last lost their first top-flight league match in consecutive seasons in 1980-81 and 1981-82.
Manchester United conceded 28 goals at home in the Premier League last season, their most at Old Trafford in a single campaign since 1962-63 (38). Indeed, Old Trafford saw more goals scored than any other stadium in the Premier League last season (66 – F38 A28), while Leeds’ away games were more prolific than any other side (67 goals – F34 A33).
Leeds United ended last season on a run of four consecutive Premier League wins, with only Arsenal and Liverpool having longer winning runs to end the campaign (both five). The Whites last won five consecutive Premier League games in March and April 2001, a run of six.
Over the last 10 Premier League matches of 2020-21, only Liverpool (26) won more points than Leeds (23), who won seven and drew two of their final 10. Leeds also dropped the fewest points from winning positions last season (6) and had the best win ratio when scoring first (89% - P18 W16) of any side.
Manchester United’s last five opening games to a Premier League campaign have seen a player score their first league goal for the club – Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2016-17, Romelu Lukaku in 2017-18, Luke Shaw in 2018-19, Daniel James in 2019-20 and Donny van de Beek last season. Of those players, only Luke Shaw wasn’t signed to the club during that summer.
Manchester United’s Mason Greenwood scored six goals in his last eight Premier League appearances in 2020-21, having scored just one in his first 23 last term. The 19-year-old has scored 17 Premier League goals in total, with only four players netting more as a teenager in the competition (Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler, Wayne Rooney and Nicolas Anelka).
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Both Patrick Bamford and Jack Harrison have scored in Leeds United’s first league match of the season in the last two seasons, against Bristol City and Liverpool. Only two Leeds players have ever scored in the first league game in three seasons in a row: Russell Wainscoat (1926-27 – 1928-29) and Harold Brook (1954-55 – 1956-57).
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