The largest challenge that awaits a defending title holder is managing the high level of expectations that go along with being the favorites or defending champions.
Rio Ferdinand talks of how last season's Premier League trophy will not hamper performances this season.
Ferdinand told the BBC: "I think it’s just acknowledgement of the season we had before really, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to win it just because you’re favourites. It’s nice to be favourites, but end of the season we’ll see where we finish.
"No, it’s not a burden at all, I think we relish anything that’s put in front of us. To be honest the pressure comes from within the club; the players, the staff, the manager himself, the fans. We put pressure on ourselves to win things and we’ll be doing the same this year."
United's season kicked off with an impressive 3-2 victory over title rivals Manchester City in the Community Shield, which saw the Premier League champions come back from a two-goal half-time deficit to secure the win.
"It’s great, it’s what Man United’s all about, I’ve always said over all the years if we’re one or two goals down in a game we’ll beat them and we proved that again on Sunday," said Ferdinand.
"That will continue hopefully for the rest of the season. Last season one of the reasons we won the league is because of the way we dealt with situations like that and when we’re in those situations most of the time manage to pull it back and regain a point or take all three."
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