Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed Manchester United will play just one 'pre-season' friendly after beginning their preparations for a unique season start.
The rescheduled 2019/20 campaign has given United just 34 days between seasons, after finishing their Europa League campaign with a semi-final defeat to Sevilla on August 16th. Although United, along with Manchester City and Wolves, have been handed special dispensation by the Premier League to start the new domestic season a week later than their rivals, Solskjaer admitted preparation has been difficult.
Several players have been away on international duty, while Paul Pogba has been self-isolating after testing positive for covid-19. Aaron Wan-Bissaka has also been in quarantine following a holiday in Dubai.
He confirmed the news reported by MEN Sport that United will play a friendly fixture this weekend, understood to be away at Aston Villa, as he gave an update on his preparations.
"Of course we are looking forward to the new season. It’s just come so quickly from last season," Solskjaer told BBC 5 live.
"This preparation is very different to what we normally have. With all the games we had in the Europa League we almost had to take that as our pre-season, then we had to give the boys a few weeks off and now we are getting ready.
"Of course we have one week later start which means we can get one friendly game in, which is very different to any other season I’ve been preparing for.
"It is going to be about match time and getting their sharpness back. I don't anticipate too many players will have lost too much in those weeks that they have had off because they have always been good at looking after themselves.
"It’s just about getting that feeling of your legs burning a bit and your lungs hurting a bit and getting on to the pitch again."
United's Premier League campaign officially begins on September 19th at home to Crystal Palace. All games will be played behind closed doors for the opening weeks of the season, amid the ongoing coronavirus restrictions.
