📅 August 21, 2026
Hull City v Man United: Full Preview, Team News and the Baleba Latest
The season starts tomorrow at 12:30 UK, 7:30 in the morning Eastern, at a ground United haven’t visited in nine years, against a team that hasn’t been in this division since 2017.
Michael Carrick’s line on it was blunt: “There’s no favourable start. A newly promoted team away from home is a tough, tough game.”
Everything you need below, including where the Baleba deal stands as of this morning.
Baleba: still no agreement, and the number is moving
The honest position is that it isn’t done.
Personal terms are agreed, a five-year contract to 2031 is drawn up, and Baleba is waiting on a green light to travel for a medical. What’s missing is the club-to-club fee. Fabrizio Romano’s position is that there’s still no agreement, with talks focused on structure and add-ons.
United’s bid is £65m. TeamTalk report the deal is expected to land nearer £70m, and that Jason Wilcox is driving it as a long-term admirer of the player.
Two things worth adding. Liverpool have been named as United’s strongest rival for him, which is a useful pressure point for Brighton in a negotiation about add-ons. And a correction to something circulating: several outlets ran headlines saying Carrick “confirmed” the signing on Thursday. He didn’t name Baleba at all. What he actually said was: “We’re certainly working towards that and making the most of the situation that we have and trying to improve things.” That’s a manager talking about strengthening in general.
Either way, he isn’t playing tomorrow. He’s recovering from an ankle ligament injury picked up in pre-season. Our full case on why £65m looks steep for a player who managed nothing last season stands.
Rashford wears 14 after all
The squad list is out and Marcus Rashford has the number 14, the shirt he was reported to be taking before he ran out against Milan in the 9.
That closes a thread that’s run through three of our articles, and it means United’s own explanation was accurate: pre-season numbers were provisional and the definitive list settled it. Romano frames the number as a signal of intent to include him.
Carrick on his condition: “He’s come back fantastically well. He looks fit, he looks sharp, he looks strong.” Asked whether he can play centrally, the answer was “Of course he can play through the middle. He has done.” Worth remembering with Benjamin Sesko only just back.
United team news
Out: Matthijs de Ligt, who is back with the squad but not ready, and Manuel Ugarte, still absent after knee ligament surgery.
Doubtful: Mason Mount. Carrick’s assessment was “He’s picked up a little bit of a knock. It’s no dramas.”
Back in training: Sesko and Karl Darlow. Sesko missed the end of last season with a shin problem and all of pre-season, so he’s likely a substitute rather than a starter.
Expected available: Lisandro Martinez and Kobbie Mainoo, though both are being eased back and may start on the bench. Martinez picked up a thigh problem in the World Cup final.
Debuts are likely for Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos.
The predicted XI, and where the guesses disagree
Seven names appear in every projection we found: Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Shaw; Tielemans; Fernandes; Mbeumo.
After that the sources split, which tells you the team isn’t obvious.
| Position | The disagreement |
|---|---|
| Centre-back alongside Maguire | Martinez, or the young defender Heaven if Martinez is eased in |
| Second midfielder | Mainoo or Andrey Santos |
| Wide and central attack | Cunha, Amad and Dorgu all appear in different versions |
| Centre-forward | Sesko in one, Mbeumo through the middle in others |
The detail we’d watch: whether Tielemans and Santos start together. United’s two summer midfield signings went three consecutive pre-season matches without sharing a pitch. At some point the club needs to see what £85m bought.
Who Hull are
Not a soft opening fixture, whatever the table said last May.
Hull are back after nine years away, promoted through the Championship play-offs by beating Millwall in the semi-finals and Middlesbrough in the final. Owner Acun Ilicali has talked about a transfer budget in the region of £200m, and the club made a record signing in Nobel Mendy.
Their head coach is Sergej Jakirovic, who arrived in summer 2025 with titles won at Dinamo Zagreb and Zrinjski Mostar. His Hull are described as defence-first and structured: organised, resilient, dangerous on the break and from set pieces.
That profile matters for one specific reason. United’s left side was taken apart by Chukwueze at Milan, and Luke Shaw starts tomorrow because there is nobody else. A side built to counter-attack will have noticed.
Hull’s injury list is the bigger problem
They arrive in worse shape than United.
Out: Eliot Matazo, Darko Gyabi, Jack Butland, Oscar Zambrano, Charlie Hughes, Joe Gelhardt and Hidemasa Morita. Late fitness tests: Cody Drameh and Matty Jacob, with Patrick McNair also listed as a concern.
Butland is the significant one, since Hull signed him in July to be their Premier League goalkeeper. Konstantinos Tzolakis is expected to start instead.
One caveat worth flagging: Morita appears in the injured list on one outlet and in a predicted starting eleven on another. Nobody has reconciled that, so treat his availability as unresolved until the team sheet lands.
The history, for what it’s worth
These two have met only 18 times. United have won 13, Hull three, with two draws.
In the Premier League specifically it’s ten meetings: eight United wins, two draws, no Hull victories. Their last meeting was a goalless draw at Old Trafford in February 2017.
Hull do carry one number in their favour: a roughly 60% win record on opening day historically.
How to watch in the US
Saturday 22 August, 7:30am ET / 6:30am CT / 4:30am PT.
The match is on USA Network, with streaming through Fubo, Sling and Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, plus UNIVERSO in Spanish and SiriusXM FC on radio. In the UK it’s TNT Sports 1.
Referee is Darren England, with Michael Salisbury on VAR.
Every United fixture with kick-off times converted to Eastern is on our fixtures page.
Prediction
Sports Mole go 1-2 to United. Model-based projections put a United win at roughly 45%, with 0-1 the single most likely scoreline.
That feels about right. Hull are organised, at home, and carrying the energy of a first Premier League game in nine years. United are better in every position but arrive off a 4-2 defeat to Milan, with a first-choice centre-back easing back from injury, no recognised cover at left-back, and a midfield still being assembled in public.
Three things to watch: whether Tielemans and Santos finally play together, whether Hull target Shaw’s flank the way Milan did, and whether Sesko gets minutes.
We’ll have the match report on Saturday. If the Baleba fee is agreed before kick-off, this page gets updated.
Source: Sky Sports — Manchester United close to full agreement with Brighton for Carlos Baleba