Romelu Lukaku enjoyed a dream start to his Manchester United career, scoring 11 goals in his first 11 appearances for the Red Devils following his £75 million summer move from Everton.
But the Belgian striker hasn’t scored for his employers since before the last international break, against Crystal Palace back in September.
Lukaku has gone seven matches without scoring for United but managed to net three goals in two matches over the past week while representing the Belgium national team against Mexico and Japan.
The 24-year-old, who became Belgium’s all-time leading goalscorer in the process, will be desperate to end his United drought when Jose Mourinho’s side take on Newcastle United on Saturday evening.
Former United striker Michael Owen believes Lukaku will be among the goals sooner rather than later but admits there’s one thing about the centre-forward that he would change.
The one thing Owen would change about Lukaku
“He will score 25 goals-plus. I am sure he will. I think it is just a minor blip. He has a good record over the years against Newcastle,” Owen was quoted as saying by Football365.com.
“At Everton, he would score in groups. He’d get a hat-trick, then a two and a four and a three, then he wouldn’t score.
“I would prefer my striker to score one every game than in clumps like that, but someone will be on the end of a two or three-goal bashing by him very soon.”
Plenty of United fans will agree with Owen here
It’s not often we say this, but a lot of Man Utd fans will agree with Owen on this point.
Lukaku looked like a goal-a-game striker during the opening weeks of his United career; however, that’s no longer the case.
Mourinho signed the Belgian to score goals consistently for the Premier League giants - but is he the reliable goalscorer that United fans thought he was during the first two months of the 2017-18 campaign?
“A few weeks ago, everyone was wondering whether he’d be breaking records, he had such a good start,” Owen added.
“We were asking if he’d become an all-time great because he was scoring relentlessly. He took to United like a duck to water and everything was perfect.
“Then all of a sudden a question mark comes.”
Lukaku can answer those questions against Newcastle
Lukaku will be aiming to answer those questions when he takes on Rafael Benitez’s side at Old Trafford later today.
Man Utd fans: will Romelu Lukaku prove to be a reliable goalscorer - or will he continue to score irregularly in bursts? Have your say by leaving a comment below.