Manchester United and Leicester City will kickstart their Premier League 2018/19 campaigns at Old Trafford on Friday, August 10.
When is the match and how to watch it live in India
The season opener will start at 8 pm local time, 12:30 am IST (Saturday) and 7 pm GMT.
Star Sports Select 1 and Star Sports Select HD 1 will provide live television coverage of the match in India. The live stream will be available on Hotstar.
What to expect from the Premier League opener
Jose Mourinho cut a disappointed and frustrated figure at yesterday's press conference in Manchester. Things have not gone his way in the pre-season and in the summer transfer window, which came to a close yesterday.
Mourinho's men were looking to sign a center-back on the deadline day but the failure to do so has summed up what has been poor business from the Premier League giants. Only three players — Fred, Diogo Dalot, and Lee Grant were signed during the summer window, much to the frustration of the Portuguese tactician.
For the season opener, United will be without quite a few first-team regulars owing to injuries and match fitness. The likes of Nemanja Matic, Antonio Valencia, Sergio Romero, Ander Herrera, and Marcos Rojo are out with injuries.
Meanwhile, the manager said he would be taking a late call on Paul Pogba, Ashley Young, Jesse Lingard and Marouane Fellaini as the star players had returned late to training after extended World Cup breaks.
All eyes will be on star midfielder Alexis Sanchez as Mourinho would be hoping the Chilean steps up and assumes a key role in the upcoming season. New-signing Fred is also expected to start for the hosts today.
On the other hand, Leicester have also traveled to Old Trafford without a full-strength squad.
Up to six players, including former United star Johnny Evans, are facing injury issues while a late call is expected to be made on Jamie Vardy and United-target Harry Maguire.
Despite the poor pre-season, United will be starting as favourites later today. Mourinho had warned the Red Devils that they could be in for a tough season but it is up to the players now to get a confidence-boosting win in the season opener.
Team news and possible starting line-ups
United vs Leicester: Global TV listings and live stream
- UK: Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports Main Event; Live stream: Sky Go
- US: NBCSN; Live stream: NBCSports.com, fuboTV
- Argentina: ESPN2 Sur; Live stream: ESPN2 Play Sur
- Australia: Optus Sport
- Brazil: ESPN Brasil; Live stream: Watch ESPN Brasil
- Canada: TSN; Live stream: TSN GO
- China: QQ Sports Live, PPTV Sport China, Ssports Live
- France: RMC Sport 1
- Italy: Sky Sport 3 HD; Live stream: Sky Go Italia
