Former Premier League star Stan Collymore believes Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial need to up their performances for Manchester United this season such that they can contribute 20 goals apiece. The duo contributed a combined three goals during the recent 4-0 drubbing of Chelsea in the Premier League opener but there are still doubts emanating regarding their consistency.

In his writing column in The Mirror, Collymore highlighted that Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling had a concern with the consistency in front of goal two years ago but the England international has made terrific progress to become the go-to man for the reigning champions. He added that Martial and Rashford only managed 10 goals apiece last term and they should seek to at least double the tally to aide the Red Devils’ quest for the top four.

He penned: " A couple of seasons ago I wrote that Manchester City’s England forward Raheem Sterling needed to start producing the sort of ­football we knew he was capable of far more consistently. Now it’s time to send the same message to the United frontmen. Last season in the league it was 10 apiece – and that’s not going to help United get to the sort of areas in the table they really should be. "Ideally, both should be looking at 20 league goals as a minimum in a 38-game season, which is the benchmark for all top strikers."

Both Rashford and Martial have made bright starts to the past couple of campaigns but their form has drastically dropped during the backend of the season where the fatigue and pressure normally has its toll. A repeat of the same could put United at the risk of missing out on the top four, considering they have already parted ways with Romelu Lukaku, who was undoubtedly their most effective marksman with 43 goals over the past two years.