The 2026–27 season is the 140th in the history of Manchester United, their 35th in the Premier League, and their 52nd consecutive and 102nd overall season in the top flight of English football. The club are competing in the Premier League, the FA Cup, the EFL Cup and the UEFA Champions League, making their first appearance in the Champions League since the 2023–24 season.
Before the season started, Michael Carrick was appointed permanent head coach on a two-year contract.
Pre-season and friendlies On 2 April, United confirmed a trip to Dublin to face Leeds United as part of their pre-season preparations. On 9 April, United confirmed an additional four fixtures, against Wrexham in Helsinki, against Rosenborg in Trondheim, against Atlético Madrid in Stockholm and against Paris Saint-Germain in Gothenburg.
United lost their first match of pre-season against Wrexham 1–0 as Sam Smith scored the only goal of the game. United won the next two matches, 5–0 over Rosenborg and 2–1 over Atlético Madrid, followed by 1–1 draws to Paris Saint-Germain and Leeds United. Manchester United lost their final preseason match 4–2 to a Milan side coached by former United manager Ruben Amorim.
DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance18 July 2026 Wrexham N 0–120,06924 July 2026RosenborgA5–0Lacey 31', Zirkzee 55', Devaney 62', Amass 72', Williams 84'7,0001 August 2026Atlético MadridN2–1Mbeumo (2) 53' (pen.), 74'30,0008 August 2026Paris Saint-GermainN1–1Mbeumo 32'12 August 2026Leeds UnitedN1–1(5–4p)Zirkzee 16'82,30015 August 2026MilanN2–4Maguire 2', Dorgu 51'
Premier League United's place in the 2026–27 Premier League was confirmed on 15 March 2026. It is their 35th season in the Premier League. The league fixtures were released on 19 June 2026. The season will begin the weekend of 22 August 2026 and will end on 30 May 2027. United will play the other 19 teams in the Premier League twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 38 matches.
Matches DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendanceLeagueposition22 August 2026Hull CityA0–224,47017th30 August 2026Ipswich TownH5–2Fernandes (3) 40', 61' (pen.), 68', Greaves 56' (o.g.), Mbeumo 82'74,14810th6 September 2026EvertonA2–2Mbeumo 46', Šeško 88'52,30211th13 September 2026Manchester CityH0–174,16113th20 September 2026FulhamA1–1Cunha 89'27,28812th10 October 2026Tottenham HotspurH18 October 2026Leeds UnitedA25 October 2026BournemouthH31 October 2026ChelseaA8 November 2026Aston VillaH22 November 2026LiverpoolA28 November 2026BrentfordH2 December 2026Newcastle UnitedA5 December 2026Coventry CityH12 December 2026Crystal PalaceA19 December 2026ArsenalA27 December 2026Nottingham ForestH30 December 2026SunderlandH2 January 2027Brighton & Hove AlbionA7 January 2027Newcastle UnitedH16 January 2027Aston VillaA23 January 2027LiverpoolH30 January 2027BrentfordA6 February 2027ChelseaH10 February 2027Brighton & Hove AlbionH20 February 2027Nottingham ForestA27 February 2027ArsenalH3 March 2027SunderlandA13 March 2027EvertonH20 March 2027Manchester CityA10 April 2027Hull CityH17 April 2027Ipswich TownA24 April 2027Crystal PalaceH1 May 2027Coventry CityA8 May 2027BournemouthA15 May 2027Leeds UnitedH23 May 2027Tottenham HotspurA30 May 2027FulhamH
League table
FA Cup As a Premier League side, United will enter the 2026–27 FA Cup in the third round.
EFL Cup As United are playing in European competition, they entered the 2026–27 EFL Cup in the third round. The draw for the third round took place on 26 August, and paired United with fellow Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion. The game was played in the week of 14 September to avoid a clash with matchday 1 of the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League. After going 2–0 up inside the opening 10 minutes thanks to goals from Shea Lacey (on his full debut) and Mason Mount, United conceded on the stroke of half-time before Brighton scored twice in five minutes midway through the second half to give them a 3–2 win. It was the first time United had lost at home after holding a two-goal lead since a 3–2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in 1976.
DateRoundOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance16 September 2026Third roundBrighton & Hove AlbionH2–3Lacey 8', Mount 10'73,670
UEFA Champions League United qualified for the league phase of the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League on 3 May 2026, when they confirmed a top-five finish in the 2025–26 Premier League.
League phase The draw for the league phase took place on 27 August. United were placed in pot 2 for the draw, along with Dortmund, Roma, Sporting CP, Aston Villa, Porto, Club Brugge, Betis and PSV Eindhoven. They were drawn against Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid from pot 1, Roma and Sporting CP from pot 2, RB Leipzig and Villarreal from pot 3, and Sabah and Como from pot 4. Fixtures were announced on 29 August, with United opening their campaign at home to Sabah on 10 September and concluding away to Villarreal on 27 January.
DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendanceLeagueposition10 September 2026SabahH4–0Cunha 27', Fernandes 42', Šeško 45', Martínez 68'73,6854th13 October 2026Atlético Madrid A21 October 2026ComoA3 November 2026RomaH25 November 2026Sporting CPA8 December 2026RB LeipzigH20 January 2027Bayern MunichH27 January 2027Villarreal A
Table The top eight teams will advance directly to the round of 16. The teams ranked from 9th to 24th will compete in the knockout phase play-offs, with the teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th will be eliminated from European competition.
Squad statistics
No.Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupChampions LeagueTotalDisciplineAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals1GK Senne Lammens5000001060002DF Diogo Dalot4(1)00010005(1)0103DF Noussair Mazraoui1(2)00010103(2)0004DF Matthijs de Ligt0000000000005DF Harry Maguire5000000050206DF Lisandro Martínez4000001151007MF Mason Mount0(1)000110(1)01(2)1008MF Bruno Fernandes53000(1)0116(1)4009FW Marcus Rashford4(1)00010005(1)00010FW Matheus Cunha51000(1)0116(1)20011FW Joshua Zirkzee0(2)0000(1)00(1)00(4)00012GK Karl Darlow00001000100013DF Patrick Dorgu2(3)00000103(3)02015DF Leny Yoro0(2)00010102(2)00016FW Amad Diallo00000000000017MF Andrey Santos1(2)000100(1)02(3)00018MF Youri Tielemans50001010700019FW Bryan Mbeumo52000(1)0106(1)21020MF Carlos Baleba00000000000022GK Tom Heaton00000000000023DF Luke Shaw40000000401025MF Manuel Ugarte00000000000026DF Ayden Heaven10001000200030FW Benjamin Šeško0(4)10010112(4)20031FW Shea Lacey0(1)000110(1)01(2)10037MF Kobbie Mainoo4(1)0000(1)0105(2)00038MF Jack Fletcher00000000000039MF Tyler Fletcher00000000000041DF Harry Amass0000000(1)00(1)00045GK Dermot Mee000000000000Own goals—1—0—0—0—1—
Transfers In Date Pos. Name From Fee 13 July 2026 MF Andrey Santos Chelsea Undisclosed 14 July 2026 GK Karl Darlow Leeds United Free MF Youri Tielemans Aston Villa Undisclosed 20 July 2026 FW Tynan Thompson Tottenham Hotspur Undisclosed 27 July 2026 GK Kit Margetson Swansea City Undisclosed 7 August 2026 MF Cristian Orozco Fortaleza Undisclosed 25 August 2026 MF Carlos Baleba Brighton & Hove Albion Undisclosed 24 September 2026 MF Karim Cassim Manchester City Undisclosed 26 September 2026 MF David Eze Manchester City Undisclosed 28 September 2026 FW Isaac Konde Liverpool Undisclosed
Out Date Pos. Name To Fee 29 June 2026 FW Rasmus Højlund Napoli Undisclosed 30 June 2026 DF Sonny Aljofree Unattached Released DF Tyrell Malacia Unattached Released MF James Bailey Stockport County Released MF Casemiro Unattached Released FW Jadon Sancho Unattached Released FW Malachi Sharpe Unattached Released 30 July 2026 DF Tyler Fredricson Lausanne-Sport Undisclosed 8 August 2026 GK Radek Vítek Middlesbrough Undisclosed 13 August 2026 FW Ethan Williams Peterborough United Undisclosed 17 August 2026 FW Ethan Ennis Stockport County Undisclosed 29 August 2026 MF James Scanlon Arsenal Undisclosed 30 August 2026 MF Toby Collyer West Bromwich Albion Undisclosed DF Louis Jackson St Mirren Undisclosed DF Habeeb Ogunneye Arsenal Undisclosed 3 September 2026 FW Gabriele Biancheri Wacker Innsbruck Undisclosed 4 September 2026 FW Louie Bradbury Stoke City Undisclosed 7 September 2026 DF James Overy Sydney Undisclosed
Loan out Date Pos. Name To Until 3 July 2026 GK André Onana Trabzonspor End of season 17 July 2026 GK Solomon Honor Southport 24 July 2026 MF Sékou Koné Lausanne-Sport 28 July 2026 GK Elyh Harrison Greenock Morton 7 August 2026 GK Altay Bayındır Celta Vigo 23 August 2026 MF Jacob Devaney Hibernian 24 August 2026 FW Ethan Wheatley Lincoln City 31 August 2026 MF Jayce Fitzgerald MF Dan Gore 2 September 2026 MF Jack Moorhouse Dundee FW Chido Obi Willem II 8 September 2026 MF Finley McAllister Radcliffe 8 October 2026 18 September 2026 GK William Murdock Hednesford Town 5 January 2027
Awards Player awards Premier League Goal of the Month Month Player Opposition Result September FW Bryan Mbeumo v. Everton
Notes
References