Van Gaal Respectful Of Lukaku's Record

Louis van Gaal has admitted Manchester United will need to keep a close eye on Romelu Lukaku in today's Barclays Premier League clash with Everton.

The Belgium international has scored 18 times in the top division this term, a tally bettered only by Tottenham's Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy of Leicester City.

Despite describing the former Chelsea striker as "very interesting", the Reds boss is confident Chris Smalling and Daley Blind will be able to limit his impact at Old Trafford.

"We always have a game plan," van Gaal replied when asked how he will deal with the threat posed by the Toffees' leading scorer. "We have trained that plan today [Friday]. Lukaku, yes, but we have very good defenders in Smalling and Blind.

"I think that every club in the world is comparing strikers and, when you score a lot of goals, you are also a potential candidate for the clubs," he added, when asked if Lukaku deserves to be on the big stage.

"Football is like that. When you give the result, what we want to expect of a striker is scoring goals and giving assists and, when he does that at the highest level, in the Premier League, then he is very interesting."