Will Man Utd's opening weekend defence be the same as 2022?

Since the summer of 2022, Manchester United have signed eight defenders for a combined \u00a3219.7m - and yet, the starting back four could be the same that lined up on the opening day of the season four years ago. <p>On 7 August 2022, Erik ten Hag started <strong>Lisandro Martinez </strong>- an arrival that summer for \u00a356.7m - <strong>Harry Maguire,</strong> <strong>Luke Shaw</strong> and <strong>Diogo Dalot, </strong>but suffered a 2-1 loss to Brighton.</p><p>And in six of his 17 Premier League matches in 2026, Michael Carrick opted for the same back line and it could be again for this weekend's opening game against Hull City on Saturday.</p><ul><li><strong><a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11096/13574077/manchester-uniteds-pre-season-analysed-joshua-zirkzee-resurgent-and-marcus-rashford-reunited-but-they-still-need-a-left-back">How are Man Utd shaping up ahead of the new season?</a></strong><!--ScriptorStartFragment--><!--ScriptorStartFragment--></li><li><strong><a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/TransfersSkySportsApp">Transfer Centre LIVE!</a> | <a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/ManUtdblogarticles">Man Utd news & transfers</a>\ud83d\udd34</strong></li><li><strong>Got Sky? <a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/WatchPremarticles">Watch Premier League games LIVE on your phone</a>\ud83d\udcf1</strong></li><li><strong>Not got Sky? <a href="https://www.sky.com/tv/sports?dcmp=Ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink">Latest Sky Sports deals</a> or <a href="https://www.nowtv.com/membership/watch-sky-sports/football/premier-league?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink">stream PL games with no contract</a>\ud83d\udcfa</strong><!--ScriptorEndFragment--><!--ScriptorEndFragment--></li></ul><p>While much has and continues to change at Man Utd, these four players have remained - although there has not always been consistency.</p><p>They have played just 10 times together in four years - although 60 per cent of those games have come under Carrick - with a variety of factors playing their part.</p><p>Martinez, Maguire, Shaw and Dalot lost their first two games together. A 4-0 defeat to Brentford struck particularly hard.</p><widget id="2"></widget><p>After that, the quartet did not play together again until October 30, 2022 - a 1-0 win against West Ham.</p><p><strong>Tyrell Malacia</strong> - who had joined the club in the summer of 2022 - <strong>Rapahel Varane</strong> and <strong>Victor Lindelof </strong>were some of the players rotated into the defence, with a combination of the other four.</p><p>Maguire - especially in the early part of the 2022/23 season - found himself benched, while also spending a month out with a hamstring injury.</p> <widget id="6"></widget><p>The same campaign saw both Martinez and Dalot missing out with various injuries. Since then though, Dalot's injury record has not been too bad.</p><p>However, the same cannot be said for Martinez and Shaw. The Argentine spent most of the first half of the 2023/24 season out with a foot injury, before rupturing his ACL in February 2025. He made his return in November after nine months of recovery.</p><p>Shaw has also found himself regularly in and out of the squad with an array of ailments. In the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons combined, he made just 27 appearances in all competitions.</p> <widget id="5"></widget><p>The summer of 2024 saw the likes of Varane and <strong>Aaron Wan-Bissaka</strong> leave and three defenders - <strong>Leny Yoro,</strong> <strong>Noussair Mazraoui </strong>and<strong> Matthijs de Ligt -</strong> arrive with a further two in the January 2025 - <strong>Ayden Heaven </strong>and <strong>Patrick Dorgu.</strong></p><p>There remained little consistency though among the back four, which could also be attributed to a mid-season change of manager.</p><p>Ten Hag departed in October 2024 and replaced by Ruben Amorim. The Portuguese lasted just 14 months and in that time, never used the combination of Martinez, Maguire, Shaw and Dalot.</p> <widget id="7"></widget><p>He was also a staunch proponent of the 3-4-3 formation, and often refused to change it, despite it clearly not working at Manchester United. Amorim eventually relented in December 2025, <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13487661/man-utd-1-0-newcastle-ruben-amorim-explains-change-in-formation-in-old-trafford-win">playing a back four for the first time against Newcastle</a> and keeping a clean sheet for the first time since early October.</p><p>But just under two weeks later, he left - clearly unhappy at having his hand forced - with Carrick coming in.</p><p>In his first game, he chose Martinez, Maguire, Shaw and Dalot when Man Utd beat Manchester City 2-0. The former midfielder went on to choose that defensive combination a further five times - and they did not lose any of those games (W5, D1).</p> <widget id="3"></widget><p>However, they kept just two clean sheets in that time, and three of the wins were by a 3-2 scoreline, showing that there is still work to do defensively.</p><p>It should also be noted that De Ligt's long-term injury is also a contributing factor. He has not played since November 2025 due to a back issue - meaning he has never been available to Carrick - but was back in first-team training this week.</p><p>But there have been no major defensive incomings since Dorgu 18 months ago. Malacia left this summer, while Lindelof and Jonny Evans departed last year. If Carrick is to continue with the gameplan he set out in the last six months, he might need to start considering reinforcements.</p> <widget id="8"></widget><p>Since he arrived, it was quite clear that the team would largely defend on the edge of their own box. They were extremely solid and compact which underpinned some huge wins.</p><p>What we've seen in pre-season has been a deviation - or, perhaps, progression - from that. Man Utd are pushing higher and working harder to press and counter-press the opposition, especially to win ...

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