Early season high-flyers Hull City plays host to Mourinho's United on Saturday and both sides look adamant to continue their perfect start to the season. Hull defeated reigning champions Leicester City on the opening day and sprung another surprise by beating Swansea comfortably at the Liberty Stadium. Meanwhile Manchester United started off their new season with a classic away victory at Bournemouth and a dominant display at home against Southampton and will be looking for all three points at KC stadium and put pressure on rivals City who play the next day and is currently on top on goals scored.
Some Facts
Skipper Wayne Rooney has been involved in 10 goals (7 Goals, 3 Assists) in 6 league appearances against the Tigers. Man United have won three of their previous four visits to the KC stadium but have had a player sent off in the last two outings. A familiar face in the Hull City team for United will be their caretaker coach Mike Phelan, who has been part of the United backroom staff from 2001 to 2013 and also was Sir Alex Ferguson's right-hand man during three Premier League title wins, a Club World Cup, two League Cups and two runs to the final of the UEFA Champions League. If Hull manages to pull off a win, they will be only the second newly promoted side to have won each of their first three games in a Premier league season since Bolton Wanderers in 2001-02.
Previous encounters
This will be the ninth time that the two teams are meeting in the premier league era and Hull has never beaten Reds in the previous eight outings. The first meeting between the two sides in the premier league era was in November 2008 at Old Trafford. United cruised to a 4-1 lead by the hour mark with goals from Ronaldo(2), Carrick and Vidic but Hull worked their way back with goals from the current ISL Star Bernard Mendy, who cleverly chipped one over Van Der Sar, and former City player Geovanni who converted a penalty to make it 4-3. The last meeting between these two teams was on the final day of the 2014/15 stadium at the KC Stadium which ended in a stalemate and resulted in Hull getting relegated into the championship.
Formations
Jose Mourinho will look to field an unchanged line-up from the previous outing against Southampton. Pogba is expected to pair up with Fellaini in the centre of the park and will look to replicate their impressive display against the Saints. Smalling and Mkhitaryan are yet to start for United in the League this season but they are both in contention to play against Hull City this weekend. Jesse Lingard is available for selection after his injury. There is no other injury or suspensions at the moment for United. Mourinho is expected to go with the 4-2-3-1 formation which saw them comfortably see off Bournemouth and Southampton. Martial will start on the left flank , Rooney in the no10 role and Mkhitaryan on the right side. United's most impressive signing so far, Eric Bailly, will be the key player at the back. Valencia and Shaw will be going forward at every opportunity to provide more options in attack. On the other end Hull has been hit with the early season injury troubles with almost 6 players unavailable for selection. The centre back pairs Alex Bruce and Michael Dawson remain injured, while Odubajo and McGregor, Tymon, Maguire and Luer are not fit to start. Mike Phelan is expected to field the same side that started against Swansea and will look to sit back and soak in the pressure and take advantage on counters. Curtis Davies will pair up with Livermore at the back with Huddlestone as the holding midfielder. Robert Snodgrass, Abel Hernandez and top scorer Diomande will head the attack in what will be a conventional 4-3-3 formation. Shaun Maloney, who was last weekend's game changer against Swansea, is expected to come in as a second half substitute to provide more firepower in counters.
Key Players
Scottish international Robert Snodgrass will be the creative hub for Hull City. Generally operates on the right flank and often likes to cut inside, and a good crosser of the ball, he has been in fine form since the start of the season with 2 goals and a man of the match performance. With Abel Hernandez upfront and ElMohamady running down the flanks, he is expected to create a tough time for Luke Shaw and co.
For United, it will be the big Swede who will be the man to watch out for. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored in his first three games and if he manages to score again at Hull, he will equal a 91 year old club record. With Pogba fusing effortlessly into the midfield and dictating play, Martial and Shaw on the left flank up and Valencia who will start at right back but is expected to go forward at every opportunity to bombard in crosses, Ibrahimovic will have lot of opportunities to find the back of the net.
Prediction
Hull City, will be expected to sit back from the start and look to capitalize on counters. Jose Mourinho's men are expected to start away with a more direct approach and dominate the game. Even though Hull have defied the odds in their opening two games, winning both, and are one of only four teams to have picked up six points, they will find it hard to contain this United squad. United have scored at least two goals in their last three matches and it is hard to bet against them repeating that this weekend. With the new players blending well with the squad and operating like a well-oiled machine and more firepower on the bench, United should win it comfortably. The fixture is definitely going to be entertaining with an upset looking highly unlikely. Predicting a 3-1 victory for Manchester United.