Manchester United may have the deadliest forward depth since 2009

Manchester United’s forwards showed the devastation they are capable of with a landslide victory for RB Leipzig.

Marcus Rashford scored a 16-minute hat-trick from the bench, while Mason Greenwood scored his first goal in the Champions League and Anthony Martial scored his first goal of the season.

Rashford already has seven goals this season, while Greenwood and Martial are warming up.

What they did last season was quite special, scoring 62 goals between them in all competitions. What made their figures even more impressive was that all three had spells on their side, either from injury or from being held back in the Greewood case at first.

Now add Edinson Cavani to the mix

All three forwards from last season were prolific. The numbers compare well, but not well enough, with United’s scorers in 2007/8.

Ronaldo scored 42, Carlos Tevez 19 and Wayne Rooney 18.

But there are parallels in the way United followed this up by signing Dimitar Berbatov, and adding Edinson Cavani to the mix.

Cavani has scored over 300 goals throughout his career and is a lethal player to add to the mix.

He had the ball in the back of the net against Leipzig, but the goal was disallowed for offside.

Still, it showed just how dangerous he is, and this comes from one of three touches he had during his limited time on the field.

If all four forwards play their part, this has the potential to be United’s best quartet since 2009.

For reference, Ronaldo scored 26, Rooney 20, Tevez 15 and Berbatov 14.

This was 72 in total, seven less than the trio of Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez scored a year earlier, and it can be argued that this quartet failed in numbers, despite winning the league title.

Keeping the four of them happy was a delicate balancing act, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has to take this into account with this current quartet.

So far, United’s four forwards have scored 10 goals combined this season, and Cavani hasn’t really started yet.

The surface of what this quartet is capable of has just been scratched, and it would not be a surprise to see them surpass the 72 scored by the United quartet in 2008/09. The key is also to win the silver medal to equal the individual and collective records.

Intermediate registers

Having four strong forwards capable of contributing has been the goal since United’s triple success in 1998/99. And it has been difficult to replicate.

Greenwood, Rashford and Martial became the first trio of forwards to reach double figures last season since 2010/11.

This saw Wayne Rooney (16 goals), Dimitar Berbatov (21) and Javier Hernández (20) play their roles in a title win to score 57 in total, five fewer than United’s leading trio last season.

The 2012/13 season saw Robin van Persie enter and inspire United, scoring 30 goals, to add 18 for Wayne Rooney and 16 for Chicharito.

It was 64 in total, but United was missing a fourth scorer, and young prospect Danny Welbeck scored once. If you make a direct comparison, Edinson Cavani is a clear improvement here.

On paper, United had the talent in 2014/15 to excel with Louis van Gaal, Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao, but it didn’t work out, with the trio scoring just 28 goals combined.

The latest generation of United strikers are at different stages in their careers.

Rashford, Greenwood and Martial are young and on the rise, while Cavani is not coming off a major injury like Falcao, and he has a point to prove.

This United team has great force up front and there is also a wealth of creative talent behind them, with Bruno Fernandes, Juan Mata, Donny van de Beek and Paul Pogba. Odion Ighalo will also stay until January and can contribute if needed.

Considering the 62 goals scored by United’s young trio last season, and the arrival of Cavani, it’s no exaggeration to say that this is now United’s most dangerous front-line foursome in 11 years, before the team from 2009 was dissolved with the departures of Ronaldo and Tevez.

Now all four just need to stay fit and play to their potential. If they can surpass 72 combined goals in 2008/09, we may be on track to winning the silver medal.