Manchester United star Rasmus Hojlund has received high praise from his international teammate and Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen.
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Palace travel to United twice over the next five days – first for a Carabao Cup clash on Tuesday night and then a Premier League meeting on Saturday afternoon.
Hojlund is set to play a key part for the Red Devils in these fixtures as they look to build up some momentum after a woeful start to the season.
Erik ten Hag’s team have lost four of their opening seven games of the season, though they have looked better since the introduction of summer signing Hojlund who scored his first goal for the club in the 4-3 defeat at Bayern Munich.
There is plenty of pressure on the 20-year-old striker who was signed from Atalanta in a deal worth up to £72million, but Andersen believes he is the real deal – though is also hopeful he can keep his Denmark teammate quiet in the next two matches.
‘It’s going to be fun to play against him!’ the Eagles centre-back told Palace’s official website.
‘He’s a young lad with a good character, a lot of energy and really good attributes. 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.
‘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!’
Historically, Palace have done very poorly against United, but in recent years that has changed somewhat, winning three of their last eight meetings – two of those coming at Old Trafford.
And the last time they met in the League Cup back in 2011, the South Londoners, then of the Championship, shockingly beat Sir Alex Ferguson’s side 2-1 courtesy of a wonder goal from Darren Ambrose.
Roy Hodgson’s men are just a point behind Ten Hag’s in the current table and, as Andersen points out, have talented forwards of their own.
‘[Eberechi] Eze is really difficult with his skills. He’s really good at dribbling. Jordan Ayew is really strong,’ the 27-year-old added.
‘I don’t know if I’ve experienced something like that [playing the same fixture twice in a week] 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!’
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