The Dutchman explained that Cristiano Ronaldo was not fit enough to start, after only 45 minutes of pre-season action, in last weekend's friendly with Rayo Vallecano.
Hence, he has opted to field Bruno Fernandes, Christian Eriksen and Marcus Rashford with confirmation required on their exact positions. Ten Hag has suggested both Fernandes and Eriksen are capable of filling the centre-forward's role over the course of the game.
In a pre-match interview with BBC, the manager said: "Ronaldo is working really hard to get in the right fitness levels. It will take time.
"He started pre-season last week.