Premier League preview: West Brom v Manchester United

Manchester United begin their English Premier League title defence with a trip to West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

Sir Alex Ferguson will be looking to lead United to a 20th English league crown and they start their campaign with a trip to The Hawthorns.

In 12 games under Roy Hodgson to finish last season, West Brom lost just twice.

But they take on a United side featuring a few new faces likely to feature on Sunday, including goalkeeper David de Gea and Ashley Young.

Both were part of the team that came from behind to beat Manchester City 3-2 in the Community Shield.

The retirement of Paul Scholes has left a hole in the centre of midfield for United, but in Anderson, Michael Carrick and Park Ji-Sung, they appear to have sufficient cover.

If they can add Inter Milan playmaker Wesley Sneijder to that list, they will again be very hard to beat.

The hero at Wembley last Sunday, Nani, will again need to be closely watched.

The Portuguese winger will cause the West Brom defence plenty of problems and will provide the service for Wayne Rooney, who will be partnered by either Danny Welbeck or Dimitar Berbatov.

Last season’s revelation Javier Hernandez, who netted 20 times in all competitions, is unavailable after suffering concussion during United’s pre-season tour of the United States.

The champions won all six of their pre-season matches, including a 2-1 win over their UEFA Champions League conquerors Barcelona.

Meanwhile, West Brom completed the signing of striker Shane Long on Tuesday, adding to the threat already posed by Nigerian Peter Odemwingie in the attacking third.

It would be both brave and uncharacteristic of Hodgson to attack United, who would expect to open their campaign with three points against a side hoping to avoid the drop.