Lukaku at par with Xavi and Iniesta? Here is What Manchester United legend feels

Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has compared Romelu Lukaku’s recent performances to that of Xavi and Iniesta during their Barcelona days.   Lukaku has been one of the main beneficiaries of Manchester United’s current injury crisis, with the Belgian taking Marcus Rashford’s place up front. He scored twice in Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace, having started the previous two Premier League games against Fulham and Liverpool.

Former United striker Berbatov was in awe of the pass Lukaku made to Jesse Lingard in the latter game, creating a chance which forced one of the only saves of the match from Alisson. The Bulgarian feels Lukaku has taken the opportunity provided to him by injuries with both hands. “I like Romelu Lukaku and he’s earned a place in the first XI,” he told Betfair.

“He’s worked hard to be in the first team, you could see it in his game at Selhurst Park. The two goals he scored, the runs he made, the passion in his performance all showed to me that he had a place in the team. I would like to see him start against Southampton because he has earned it. “And don’t make the mistake of thinking he has to play central. In modern football many teams play with three upfront and that trio can switch positions and confuse the opposition.

“Lukaku is capable of using the space really well when he drifts left or right and has made a few assists from those positions. “The ball Lukaku played for Lingard against Liverpool, there aren’t many players who can make that pass. It was like watching Xavi or Iniesta! Lukaku is not one-dimensional like some people assume.” Nevertheless, Lukaku is set to drop back to the bench after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed Marcus Rashford has recovered from an ankle injury.   And Anthony Martial could also be back in the squad too.

England striker Rashford suffered an ankle injury early on during last weekend’s goalless draw with Liverpool , but in a game where three United players were injured before the break, somehow played the full 90 minutes. He was left on the bench at Crystal Palace – despite United being without nine senior first-team stars – but did come on for the final 13 minutes despite not being at 100 per cent.

United’s injury problems have hardly dwindled in the two days since the 3-1 success at Selhurst Park, with Ander Herrera, Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Phil Jones, Nemanja Matic, Matteo Darmian and Antonio Valencia all still sidelined.  Solskjaer revealed on Friday that Martial may be part of the squad depending on how he feels after the team’s final session. But Rashford should be good to go from the off against the Saints at Old Trafford.  “It’s the last session today but we’re not going to take any risks so maybe Anthony, but it might even be a few more days before he’s ready,” Solskjaer said. “So probably the squad will look similar to what it did on Wednesday. “Rashford (is fully fit). He said he still felt it Wednesday night so he’ll be ready, so I’ll probably start him.”