Former Man United striker agrees with Erik ten Hag’s Arsenal decision as manager gives lineup hint

Manchester United face Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon with Erik ten Hag looking likely to introduce Rasmus Hojlund straight into the starting lineup.

The Reds have been without their new striker since he signed at the start of last month. He was dealing with a minor back issue but has now been back in team training for a week.

In the opening two fixtures, Marcus Rashford operated through the middle with Alejandro Garnacho to his left. Neither player impressed during those games.

Anthony Martial then came in to start as the no.9 against Nottingham Forest which allowed Rashford to return to his preferred left-hand side. Despite bizarrely going 2-0 down in the opening four minutes of the game, it was a more improved overall team performance across the 90 minutes.

Ten Hag has now confirmed that Hojlund is fit to be involved against Arsenal and some believe that it would be better to bring him from the bench, rather than have the 20-year-old start against Mikel Arteta’s men on his United debut.

There is an argument that, despite being the big-money signing at the top of the pitch, Hojlund must be given patience and time to bed into the side.

However, Ten Hag also appeared to hint that the Denmark international will be in his starting team this weekend, stating that he is ‘ready’ to start the game in his pre-match press conference.

Despite there being concerns around starting him, Andy Cole believes that at Old Trafford there isn’t the chance to allow a bedding-in period for the striker.

“We can all say that he’s inexperienced and that he’s been bought for the long-term, but the crazy media attention that Manchester United receives means that it doesn’t allow players time to bed in,” Cole told BetFred.

“People will be on his case straight away because there hasn’t been any goals that have come from that central area so far.

“Questions will be asked straight away, especially if he doesn’t start well because there’s been a lot of money spent on a kid that scored nine goals in Serie A last season.”

Hojlund will also be coming against his former side FC Copenhagen in the Champions League after The Reds were placed in Group A alongside the Danish club, Bayern Munich and Galatasaray.

His two brothers, Emil and Oscar, also play Copenhagen and could end up facing their sibling this season.