Zlatan Will Score 20+

Former Manchester United manager Ron Atkinson praised Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Man-of-the-Match performance after the 2-0 win over Southampton.

Atkinson, who picked Antonio Valencia and Paul Pogba alongside Ibrahimovic for the star man shortlist, was talking on MUTV after the Scandinavian's brace on his home league debut.

The talismanic Swede opened the scoring with a header following a Wayne Rooney cross before adding a second from the penalty spot after Luke Shaw was felled by Southampton midfielder Jordy Clasie.

"The most satisfying thing for me is we’ve got a goalscorer in the team who is scoring goals," Atkinson said. "I look at Zlatan and I think he is a knock-in bet to finish with 20 goals and I’m talking league goals now. If you’ve got that in your locker and one or two others weigh in, it doesn’t half give you chances.

"To be fair to him, there are going to be times during the course of many games when you think where is he? He’s not dynamic in fact and is not going to run here, there and everywhere because he’s 34.

"He is not going to do that. But you do know if you set him up with a chance – we’ve seen two great headers from him already." Ibrahimovic now has four goals in all competitions after goals against Bournemouth last weekend and Leicester in the Community Shield. Atkinson added:  "I didn’t realise how great he was in the air before the Community Shield and then again today.

"They were two phenomenal headers. You always associate him with acrobatic overhead kicks and long-distance shots but he is a real threat in the air."