Can Zlatan Ibrahimovic score on his home debut? He'll have to get past Virgil van Dijk first. We check the stats and assess the battle...

Having already scored on his Man Utd and Premier League debuts, Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be looking to complete an early season hat-trick by scoring on his official home debut against Southampton on Friday night.

The summer arrival from PSG would become the 20th player to score on his Old Trafford debut for Man Utd in the PL era, and he'll be hopeful his legacy is more closely associated to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Dwight Yorke and Ruud van Nistelrooy than to Jordi Cruyff, Federico Macheda and Nick Powell, all of whom are among the previous 19 players to have achieved the feat.

Scored on Premier League home debut for Man Utd Roy Keane - 18/08/1993 v Sheff Utd (2)

Keith Gillespie - 29/10/1994 v Newcastle

Jordi Cruyff - 21/08/1996 v Everton

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - 25/08/1996 v Blackburn

Dwight Yorke - 09/09/1998 v Charlton (2)

Ruud van Nistelrooy - 19/08/2001 v Fulham (2)

Louis Saha - 31/01/2004 v Southampton

Alan Smith - 21/08/2004 v Norwich

Danny Welbeck - 15/11/2008 v Stoke

Federico Macheda - 05/04/2009 v Aston Villa

Mame Biram Diouf - 16/01/2010 v Burnley

Robin van Persie - 25/08/2012 v Fulham

Shinji Kagawa - 25/08/2012 v Fulham

Alex Buttner - 15/09/2012 v Wigan

Nick Powell - 15/09/2012 v Wigan

James Wilson - 06/05/2014 v Hull City (2)

Angel di Maria - 14/09/2014 v QPR

Anthony Martial - 12/09/2015 v Liverpool

Marcus Rashford - 28/02/2016 v Arsenal (2)

In the major five European leagues last season, only Barcelona's Luis Suarez hit the net more often than Ibrahimovic, who managed to outscore the other famous names in the list below in terms of minutes-per-goal, despite being three years older than any of those direct rivals.

Most goals in major European leagues last season Player Team Goals Age at end of season Mins per goal Luis Suarez Barcelona 40 29 78.8 Zlatan Ibrahimovic PSG 38 34 67.2 Gonzalo Higuain Napoli 36 28 82.7 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid 35 31 90.9 Robert Lewandowski Bayern Munich 30 27 88.5

Incidentally, five of Ibrahimović's 38 goals last season came in two Ligue 1 meetings against Nice and Claude Puel, the Frenchman who is now in charge of Southampton.

With his 35th birthday only seven weeks away, whether age begins to catch up with Ibrahimovic remains to be seen, but there is precedent for players in their 30s having prolific Premier League seasons.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his first Premier League goal against Bournemouth

Seven different players, including Alan Shearer (twice), have scored 20 or more Premier League goals having started a season in their 30s, although it should be noted that the oldest of that group - Shearer at 33 in 2003/04 - was still a year younger than Ibrahimovic is now.

Players aged 30+ to score 20+ Premier League goals in a season Player Age at start of season Goals Season Alan Shearer 33 22 2003/04 Ian Wright 32 23 1996/97 Peter Beardsley 32 21 1993/94 Didier Drogba 31 29 2009/10 Alan Shearer 31 23 2001/02 Frank Lampard 31 22 2009/10 Jurgen Klinsmann 30 20 1994/95 Yaya Toure 30 20 2013/14

The man leading the Southampton defence looking to stifle Ibrahimovic on Friday will be Virgil van Dijk. At 6ft 4in, the Dutchman is well placed to cope with any aerial threat posed by Ibrahimovic - who is 6ft 5in and marked his Manchester United debut with a headed goal in the Community Shield.

Since joining Southampton 11 months ago, Van Dijk leads the way for both headed clearances and aerial duels won by defenders in the Premier League.

Virgil van Dijk has won more aerial duels than any other Premier League defender since he joined Southampton

He has also maintained an impressive ever-present record, one of only five players yet to miss a minute of Premier League action since September last year. With only 29 fouls and three yellow cards in 35 appearances, suspension has certainly never been a concern for Van Dijk.

Most headed clearances in PL since Van Dijk's Southampton debut on September 12, 2015 Player Headed clearances Virgil van Dijk 162 Steve Cook 161 Ashley Williams 151 Toby Alderweireld 133 Federico Fernandez 133

Most aerial duels won (defenders) in PL since Van Dijk's Southampton debut on September 12, 2015 Player Aerial duels won Virgil van Dijk 165 Scott Dann 116 Craig Dawson 116 Chris Smalling 108 Robert Huth 105

Most minutes in PL since Van Dijk's Southampton debut on September 12, 2015 Player Minutes Virgil van Dijk 3150 Andrew Surman 3150 Kasper Schmeichel 3150 Wes Morgan 3150 David de Gea 3150

Van Dijk's move to Southampton last year was swiftly followed by his first international cap for Netherlands in October 2015. Since then, he has become a mainstay of the Dutch defence, starting seven of their last eight internationals.

At 25 years old, he still has time on his side to close the gap on the most-capped Dutch defenders to play in the PL era, and to enhance his steadily growing reputation, starting by snuffing out Ibrahimovic on Friday night.