Manchester United begin their defense of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday when they take on fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace at Old Trafford.
Last season, Erik ten Hag ended the club’s six-year trophy drought by beating Newcastle United in the final of the cup competition at Wembley.
The manager opted to select a strong team in each round, highlighting how seriously he took the competition and things are not expected to be too different this time around.
Rasmus Hojlund, who was United’s big summer signing, is expected to feature and he has already shown glimpses of his talent and opened his account for the club against Bayern Munich in the Champions League
One player who knows a lot about the 20-year-old is Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen who also happens to be his and Denmark international teammate.
And the Eagles star has been impressed with the United forward’s start as a United player and warned that there is plenty more to come from the young Dane.
Having seen him evolve as a player since his debut for Denmark, Andersen feels Hojlund has all the attributes required to succeed in England.
“It’s going to be fun to play against him! He’s a young lad with a good character, a lot of energy and really good attributes,” the defender told the Crystal Palace media team.
“He’s quick, he’s strong and he has a lot of energy. It’s not easy to play against a player like him and I think his start [in England] has been really good. He scored last week so I’m really happy for him.”
Andersen also added cheekily added that while he hoped for more from the United man, he believes he can stop him when both sides meet this week.
In fact, United’s Carabao Cup clash against the team from Selhurst Park will be followed by a Premier League encounter against the same side.
Hopefully he’ll score a lot of goals for our national team… but I think I can handle him in the games we’re going to play against each other!”
“I don’t know if I’ve experienced something like that before. Of course, it’s difficult to play two games at Old Trafford in one week, but it is what it is
“Hopefully we can get some good results. It’s a lot of travel in one week, but that’s how it is!”
From a United point of view, fans will be hoping Hojlund can get the better of his international teammate on both occasions and ensure the Red Devils can build some momentum going forward.
