Man Utd vs Atletico Madrid: Prediction, kick-off time, team news, TV, live stream, h2h results, odds today

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Evening Standard

·1 August 2026

Man Utd vs Atletico Madrid: Prediction, kick-off time, team news, TV, live stream, h2h results, odds today

Michael Carrick preparing for Red Devils’ Champions League return after two-year absence

Manchester United take on Atletico Madrid this afternoon in Sweden in a blockbuster pre-season friendly.

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This is United’s third summer friendly so far. They started with a 1-0 loss to Wrexham in Finland before beating Rosenborg 5-0 in Norway. The latter saw out-of-favour striker Joshua Zirkzee get his name on the scoresheet, alongside academy graduates Shea Lacey, Jacob Devaney, Harry Mass and Ethan Williams.

Against Diego Simeone’s side, Michael Carrick will not be able to field £30m signing Youri Tielemans or first-choice goalkeeper Senne Lammens, who both reported to Carrington this week but were left out of the travelling squad.

Fellow new signing Andrey Santos - who joined from Chelsea for £48m - has started both of the Red Devils’ pre-season games so far and is hoping to cement a place in United’s midfield for the upcoming season as they prepare for their Champions League return.

Atletico will be without Julian Alvarez for the match as he remains on holiday following the World Cup. The striker has been linked with moves to Barcelona and Arsenal this summer, but Atletico remain adamant they do not want to sell the player.

Manchester United vs Atletico Madrid is scheduled for a 2pm BST kick-off today, Saturday, August 1, 2026.

The match will take place at Strawberry Stadium in Solna, Sweden.

Where to watch Manchester United vs Atletico Madrid

TV channel and live stream: In the UK, the game will be televised live on MUTV, Manchester United’s in-house video streaming service.

All of United’s pre-season fixtures will be broadcast via MUTV, which requires a membership. A subscription costs £29.99 per year or £7.99 per month.

Live blog: You can follow all the action on matchday via Standard Sport’s live blog.

Manchester United vs Atletico Madrid team news

Neither Tielemans nor Lammens will feature here. The pair reported for pre-season midweek, but this match ocmes too soon for them and they have been left out of the travelling squad.

The Old Trafford side are still without several players who participated in the World Cup. The most significant of these is captain Bruno Fernandes, whose Portugal side were beaten 1-0 by eventual winners Spain in the quarter-finals.

Also missing are Brazil’s Matheus Cunha and Argentina’s Lisandro Martinez. The latter suffered an injury in the World Cup final and may miss the start of the season.

This means Harry Maguire and Ayden Heaven are likely to remain the team’s centre-back pairing, while Zirkzee will continue as the lone striker with Benjamin Sesko still carrying a shin injury.

Boost: £30m signing Tielemans arrives after World Cup duty

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Atleti have made three signings this summer, but only two are available: Danish midfielder Morten Hjulmand and Alejandro Grimaldo.

South Korea international Lee Kang-In, who joined from PSG for £34.2m (€40m), is yet to join his new club due to complications involving military service in his home country.

Ademola Lookman is their dangerman amid Alvarez’s absence - the Nigeria international scored a brace in a friendly win over Getafe a few days ago.

Manchester United vs Atletico Madrid prediction

Manchester United will hope to carry on where they left off against Rosenborg, but Atleti will provide the toughest opposition of their pre-season so far.

They do have Tielemans to add some nous to their midfield, but the Belgian is unlikely to feature from the start, so the Mount-Santos double pivot will have to continue.

Whether this is strong enough to hold off Koke and Hjulmand remains to be seen. Whether Maguire and Heaven can prevent Lookman from bagging is another matter altogether.

Expect a tight game, but don’t read too much into the result, with both sides still missing key players.

Man United 2-2 Atletico Madrid