Match talking points will appear here before kick-off.

• 1
  Michael Carrick has gone from emergency stand-in to permanent manager in the space of a season. He took over in January after Ruben Amorim was sacked, won 19 points from a possible 21 in his first seven games, and steered United to a third-place finish and Champions League qualification.
• 2
  That turnaround is the reason United fans are cautiously optimistic rather than braced for another crisis this season — the last permanent-manager appointment before Carrick didn't exactly go to plan.
• 3
  New signings Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko have both been getting on the scoresheet early, including in a wild 2-2 draw at Everton where Sesko headed United in front late on.
• 4
  That Everton draw was a proper gut-punch — United led with minutes left, only for debutant Ainsley Maitland-Niles to smash in a stunning stoppage-time equaliser. Worth bringing up if a United fan is in a good mood and you fancy bringing them back down gently.
• 5
  The real question of the season for United isn't whether they can compete for the top four — Carrick's already shown that's possible. It's whether last season's form was a genuine building block or a purple patch that's hard to repeat.

• 1
  This is the first Manchester City season since 2015-16 without Pep Guardiola in the dugout. He stepped down in the summer after a decade that redefined the club, and Enzo Maresca has come in as his permanent successor on a three-year deal.
• 2
  Maresca isn't a total stranger to City — he was on Guardiola's coaching staff during the treble-winning 2018-19 season — but this time he's the one making the calls, after stints in charge of Leicester and Chelsea.
• 3
  The squad looks different too: Rodri completed a move to Barcelona at the end of August, and Bernardo Silva left when his contract expired. It's the first City side since 2018-19 without Rodri and since 2016-17 without Bernardo — two genuinely era-defining players gone in one summer.
• 4
  It's also the club's first Champions League campaign without Guardiola since 2015-16, which makes this a proper transition season rather than business as usual with a new face at the front.
• 5
  Whatever happens results-wise early on, cut Maresca some slack in conversation. Replacing a decade of Guardiola is one of the hardest jobs in world football, not a like-for-like swap.