Hull City makes their return to the Premier League for the first time since 2016, facing a challenging opening match against a formidable opponent. With a packed MKM Stadium and the game broadcast live at lunchtime, the atmosphere is set. However, the visitors, who finished third in the previous season and are now a Champions League team, have retained most of their squad. Michael Carrick embarks on his first full season as manager, having successfully guided United from seventh to third after taking over from Ruben Amorim. Meanwhile, Sergej Jakirovic is starting his own journey in the top tier, leading a squad that earned promotion through the play-offs while spending less than half of their expected budget. Hull secured their promotion thanks to a last-minute goal from Oli McBurnie against Middlesbrough at Wembley, clinching a 1-0 victory following a goalless first leg and a semi-final win over Millwall. However, their underlying performance metrics tell a different story, as they ranked second-bottom in expected points with a total of 53.1, indicating they would have been relegated based on performance alone. Compounding their challenges, Hull faces a lengthy injury list. Goalkeeper Butland is out due to an arm injury that could keep him out until Christmas, while Gelhardt is sidelined with an ankle issue. Additionally, Gyabi, Hughes, Matazo, and Zambrano are unavailable. Hidemasa Morita, who joined from Sporting after a Champions League quarter-final run, is also a doubt with a calf problem, along with Drameh and Jacob. The team's pre-season preparations have not been encouraging, suffering a 2-0 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt and managing only one goal across two matches prior to their friendly against Nice. Jakirovic has indicated that the transfer market will be active in the final week, highlighting the incompleteness of the current squad.