Daily Mirror

Lukaku: I bulked up for World Cup but I had to lose muscle & avoid the gym to cure my goal drought

- MANCHESTER UNITED FULHAM BY DAVID McDONNELL 4 1

Premier League stats Games Played Minutes played

Goals per 90 mins

Shots per 90 mins Shots on target per 90 mins Shot conversion rate (%) Assists per 90 mins Chances created per 90 mins 2017-18 34 2869 0.5 2.7 1.35 18.6 0.22 1.04 2018-19 15 1094 0.49 2.3 1.32 21.43 0 1.07

Young Kamara Mata Lukaku Rashford

ROMELU LUKAKU admitted he bulked up too much over the summer and was forced to slim down in a bid to rediscover his form.

Lukaku, who plundered his second goal in his last two starts in Manchester United’s first Premier League win for over a month, endured a 12-game goal drought for the Reds.

That ineffectiv­eness in front of goal was largely put down to Lukaku’s post-World Cup hangover, where the forward played a key role in helping Belgium to third place. But Lukaku has also revealed he returned for the new season at United carrying too much muscle and has had to stay out of the gym to tone down and get back into the right shape. “I had to lose muscle, basically,” he said.

“So, you just stay out of the gym, drink a lot of water, eat a lot of veg and fish, and it helps.

“Just training differentl­y – more prevention in the gym and try to do more speed bursts in training, and that’s, for me, the most essential.

“It was at the World Cup. I just felt great and think I played great over there. Then, when I came back, it’s a different style.

“When you’re in the Premier League, you cannot play with the same amount of muscle as in in s I c

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 ??  ?? NATURAL BRAWN GOALSCORER Lukaku shows off slimmeddow­n physique following his summer heroics for Belgium
NATURAL BRAWN GOALSCORER Lukaku shows off slimmeddow­n physique following his summer heroics for Belgium

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