Manchester United pre-season friendly vs RC Lens confirmed

Manchester United will welcome French side RC Lens to Old Trafford for a pre-season friendly on August 5.

The Manchester Evening News understands that United will play two friendlies on the weekend of August 5/6, with manager Erik ten Hag keen to ensure as many of his squad as possible are match-fit going into the new season.

Lens confirmed on Thursday afternoon that they will head to M16 on the Saturday, with a second friendly against Athletic Bilbao in Dublin believed to be pencilled in for the Sunday.

The decision to squeeze two extra games in on that weekend came following FA Cup final defeat at the hands of Manchester City. Victory at Wembley would have seen the Reds take on Arsenal in the Community Shield that weekend.

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United will spend a large portion of their pre-season in the United States with a number of friendlies lined up. They will face Arsenal in New York on July 22, Real Madrid in Houston on July 26 and Borussia Dortmund in Las Vegas on July 30 - the weekend before their double-header.

An academy side will also play against Wrexham in San Diego on July 25.

It is the second year in a row in which Ten Hag has organised a double-header of friendlies the weekend before the Premier League season starts, having played Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano last summer. The Reds boss heavily rotated his team for the latter fixture.

United's Premier League campaign starts with a home game against Wolves on Monday, August 14.

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