Liverpool hero Emile Heskey tells Man Utd star Romelu Lukaku: You have to improve

EMILE HESKEY has told Romelu Lukaku to improve his first touch.

Emile HeskeyGETTY

Emile Heskey has given some advice to Romelu Lukaku

Lukaku heads to Heskey's old stomping ground Anfield tomorrow ready to spearhead the Manchester United frontline.

But the Liverpool icon has one concern about Lukaku’s game.

He said: “I think Lukaku needs to improve his hold up play. It's not as neat and tidy as it possibly could be.

“He scores a lot of goals and that hides him from constructive criticism, but he should look to sharpen up his hold up play if he wants to become a complete centre forward.

“Lukaku is still so young and it's frightening to think how good he could become.”

Romelu LukakuGETTY

Romelu Lukaku has been urged to improve his first touch

Lukaku has scored 10 goals already this season at an average of one every 81 minutes.

That record is only bettered by Harry Kane, who has scored 11 at a hit-rate of one every 71 minutes.

Heskey told Sporting Bet: “Harry Kane has been performing just as well, if not better, than Lukaku.

“Harry Kane is scoring some phenomenal goals this season.

"I like watching Lukaku play, the way he bullies defenders and is always fighting to get into the box reminds me of what I looked to do with my game. He's a wonderful player.”

Heskey played 150 times for Liverpool, winning six trophies with the club including the famous treble in 2000-01 and starting in the League Cup final win over Manchester United in 2002-03.

On tomorrow’s clash, he said: “If Liverpool lost to Manchester United and Tottenham then they are out of the title race, but if they win those games then they're right back into the mix.

“They'd make a big statement if we got a result in those two games.

“It's a very important couple of weeks that could make or break their title hopes. There's no reason Liverpool can't beat Manchester United and Tottenham.”

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