West Ham vs Man City LIVE: Premier League result and final score as Erling Haaland goals seal opening win

So the big call from Erik ten Hag sees Cristiano Ronaldo being left on the bench and Marcus Rashford leading the line in the absence of Anthony Martial.

There are debuts for Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez, who starts alongside Harry Maguire. Jadon Sancho is fit enough to start as well.

Manchester United XI: De Gea, Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw, McTominay, Fred, Eriksen, Fernandes, Sancho, Rashford

Brighton XI: Sanchez, Webster, Dunk, Veltman, Trossard, Caicedo, Lallana, March, Mac Allister, Gross, Welbeck

This time last year on the eve of a new top-flight campaign, there was a theory that the era of a Premier League’s big six was coming to an end, if it had not ended already. The big six were certainly no longer synonymous with the top six, at least. Arsenal’s back to back eighth-place finishes had broken three years of big six dominance between 2017 and 2020. Tottenham Hotspur had also dropped into seventh in 2020-21 too, as Leicester City and West Ham gatecrashed the party to finish fifth and sixth respectively and qualify for the Europa League.

But just a year on, the status quo has been restored. The top of last season’s Premier League table had an all too familiar and all too predictable look to it. Despite Tottenham and Arsenal picking up where they left off and starting the campaign slowly, despite talk of a growing middle class ready to challenge the old order, and despite arguably the biggest and certainly the most successful club of the Premier League era having their worst season for a generation, the big six was the top six once again. Reports of their death had been greatly exaggerated.

As Mark Critchley writes, Manchester United’s worst season since relegation in 1974 and the fact it was only followed by a sixth-place finish, showed how competitiveness in the Premier League has been distorted.

Jadon Sancho and Luke Shaw are in Manchester United’s squad ahead of their Premier League opener. The pair were both doubts due to illness but look to have recovered enough to play some part today. Full team news will be confirmed at 1pm.

Erik ten Hag has told Manchester United’s players the minimum of what is required ahead of the club’s Premier League opener, and that is “total effort” from the team.

Ten Hag writes in his programme notes: “Total effort from everyone in a minimum requirement.

The name of the club says it all: Manchester United. Everyone must be on the same team, working together, playing for their team-mates, the fans and the badge on their shirt.”

Harry Maguire has admitted that Manchester United’s performances last season were “nowhere near acceptable” as he prepares to lead out the team for the first time under Erik ten Hag.

“This club’s all about winning trophies. From where we were last season we’ve got to look at huge improvement,” Maguire told Sky Sports. “Last year was nowhere near acceptable for this club. We got knocked out of cups early, we didn’t give our fans anything to look forward to.”

On Ten Hag’s start, Maguire said: “"It's been really good, obviously a fresh start after last season. Ten Hag has brought a lot of energy, a lot of positive vibes and the lads have bought into it really well up to now.

"It was only pre-season but we're fit and ready to go. We're looking forward to the season."

United’s players have already arrived at Old Trafford, over two hours before kick-off. That’s much earlier than usual.

Remember when United kept being late under Jose Mourinho a few seasons ago? Ten Hag is looking to change that.

It’s a perfect day in Manchester and Old Trafford is looking as fresh as the first day of the season.

Cristiano Ronaldo insisted he was “happy to be back” playing for Manchester United after he appeared for 45 minutes in the 1-1 friendly draw against Rayo Vallecano.

Ronaldo missed United’s pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia due to family reasons amid reports he wants to quit the club, but he reported to the training ground earlier this week to discuss his future with new boss Erik ten Hag.

The 37-year-old played 45 minutes against the La Liga side – his first United appearance since their 4-0 horror defeat at Brighton last season – before being withdrawn at half-time in a pre-planned move.

He later posted on social media a picture of him playing in the game with the caption: “Happy to be back!”

United completed their pre-season preparations with a draw as Ronaldo’s replacement Amad Diallo’s 48th-minute strike was cancelled out by Alvaro Garcia Rivera.

If the long and protracted Frenkie de Jong transfer saga has not already been messy enough, there is one way of making it a whole lot messier. “De Jong should consider legal action v Barcelona and all players should be behind him,” Gary Neville tweeted last week. “A club spending fortunes on new players whilst not paying the ones they have under contract their full money is immoral and a breach. @FIFPRO should be all over bullying like this and stop it.”

Predictably, Neville’s tweet did not go down well among Barcelona’s support – with some even going as far as to pretend his infamous spell in charge of Valencia went even worse than it actually did – but you do not have to be a former Manchester United right-back to sympathise with the sentiment behind it. For a financially-challenged club like Barça to push a player out so that they can fund a summer of extravagant spending is one thing. To do so while refusing to pay him wages that he is owed is another entirely.

Earlier this month, Marca revealed that De Jong agreed to defer approximately €17m in wages when extending his deal during the pandemic. In order to help Barcelona cope with the financial impact of Covid-19, the Netherlands international signed a two-year extension until 2026 which reduced his basic €14m-per-year salary to €3m during 2020-21 and €9m last season. This left a deferred €16m to be spread over the remaining four years of his deal, plus an additional €1m to be paid in the final year.