Chelsea may have not been able to make any significant additions to the squad due to the transfer ban but the arrival of Frank Lampard in place of Maurizio Sarri as manager means there is a great deal of positivity around the club heading into the new season.

It’s hard to tell from friendlies whether the Blues will be competing at the top of the table this campaign, but a stern test against Manchester United on the opening day will be an early gauge to see how Lampard will fare in the Premier League.

Pre-season has already shown that the Chelsea legend will employ a more flexible system than his predecessor and he is expected to blood a few youngsters, with Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham expected to have prominent roles in the first season.

For United, the recent arrival of Harry Maguire from Leicester City has filled a problem position that manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been looking to fix for a while. Other new recruits, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James, will give the Red Devils more energy and dynamism this season.

However, both come into the campaign as unknown quantities and that is reflected at the bookies. United are slight favourites to win and are currently 5/4 at BetVictor. A draw is 47/20 with 888 Sport while a Chelsea victory is 5/2 at Unibet.

Predicted Score – 1-1