Hojlund, Yoro injury worry: Man Utd boss Ten Hag provides update after ‘very good’ Arsenal friendly

Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag praised the “very good level” on show against Arsenal and has vowed to stay “positive” after Leny Yoro and Rasmus Hojlund were forced off injured.

The Red Devils were beaten 2-1 by Arsenal in Los Angeles on Sunday morning.

Hojlund gave Ten Hag’s side the lead early on but goals from Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli gave the Gunners victory.

The biggest talking point after the game, though, was the injuries picked up by Hojlund and £52million summer signing Yoro.

Ten Hag said he would know more about the extent of the problems 24 hours after full-time but said he was “careful” with Yoro, hinting that he came off as a precaution.

“Of course it is too short [to know about their injuries] and we have to wait over 24 hours, then we will hopefully know more,” he said.

“We were careful especially with Leny as he only did 50 per cent of the [training] sessions. He has to come up but let’s be positive and see what comes out.”

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Ten Hag did praise Hojlund for his goal after he dominated young Arsenal centre-back Ayden Heaven to squeeze the ball through Karl Hein’s legs.

“In such occasions he is very strong and he is a threat for every defence and he has [those] scoring abilities,” the Dutchman said.

Ten Hag added that he was impressed by the intensity of the friendly, “from both sides”.

“I think [the game] was a very good level for the third week of pre-season, from both sides, but in the first half I thought we were the better team,” he said.

“We scored a very good goal, a very good ball in behind from [Marcus] Rashford and then Hojlund with a very good move and a finish, I was very pleased.

“We also created some more good chances and we then conceded the goal which was offside.”

Ten Hag explained why he made ten changes for the second half in LA.

He said: “It was different, it was a mixed team and this was the first time they have played together.

“We had a player playing full-back for the first time in his life [James Scanlon] and then you have to play against experienced Premier League players, that is not easy.

“I think at the second goal we let him down a little bit and we could help him there by giving him a little bit more support by supporting or covering.

“Overall I think the team played a good performance and we could have drawn this game.”

Next up for Man Utd is Spanish side Real Betis – who lost 1-0 to Liverpool on Saturday morning – in San Diego.

“It is a short slot and we are there [in San Diego] quickly, so we have to prepare the team, we must be ready and of course we have to recover from this and then go again [on Thursday],” Ten Hag said.

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