Manchester United’s first game of the season presents Matheus Cunha with a chance to repeat history.
It is not just under two months until Manchester United open up the 2025-26 campaign against Arsenal at Old Trafford.
The Premier League schedule for United has presented a big six clash on the first Sunday of the season, which won’t be the simple start that Ruben Amorim would have been dreaming of.
United’s first five games are a baptism of fire for Amorim, which could potentially make or break the season before October even arrives.
For any United signings this summer, it will be a huge clash straight out of the gate, but a chance to become instant heroes, as one Erik ten Hag signing did in 2022.
Now, Matheus Cunha will want to follow in his footsteps.
Matheus Cunha of Manchester United is signing his contract.
Photo by Manchester United/Manchester United via Getty Images
There is plenty of excitement around the transfer business being done this summer, with the players either joining or being negotiated for, being big upgrades for United. Cunha has been compared with Eric Cantona by club CEO Omar Berrada.
Cunha hasn’t had the best record against Arsenal, losing three of three meetings with Wolves and scoring once in these fixtures. However, on the 17th of August, he will want to fix this and win, but he can also follow in Antony’s footsteps.
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Back in 2022, Antony made his debut for United in a 3-1 win against Arsenal, with the £86m man scoring in the process, which shot him to early stardom at Old Trafford.
So if Cunha scores against Arsenal, he will join an exclusive group of United players to score on their debut, which includes Antony and Joshua Zirkzee.
However, even if the Brazilian looks like the hero against Arsenal, fans should be wary about giving him the keys to the kingdom, and Cunha will want to avoid repeating Antony’s debut season.
Cunha will hope to avoid what happened to Antony after a hot start
After his goal against Arsenal, Antony was an instant hero for United fans, and it seemed like he was going to bring ‘Jogo Bonito’ to Old Trafford. This belief strengthened in the following weeks as he scored a belter against Manchester City and then against Everton.
Three in three for Antony, then turned into one in 22 across the rest of the campaign in the Premier League – he scored twice in the Europa League against Barcelona and Real Betis, and then in the FA Cup as well against Everton.
So, Cunha will know a hot start at United means nothing in terms of indicating how things may pan out long-term.
The Brazil international will want to score in his debut, and there is a strong chance he will if United can play at a level we will be expecting come August. But with a debut goal, he will know that it is just the beginning and will need to work even harder to become the icon he has the potential to be.