Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker predict Cristiano Ronaldo’s Premier League goal tally for the season 

Alan Shearer has predicted Cristiano Ronaldo will score 20 goals for Manchester United in the Premier League this season. Gary Lineker has gone one step extra and added it would be 25 goals from the Portuguese star.

Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Manchester United this summer and has started the season well. The forward has scored twice in the Champions League while netting thrice in the Premier League so far.

Lineker and Shearer were discussing the ongoing Premier League season on BBC’s Match of the Day Top 10 podcast when the topic of Cristiano Ronaldo came up. Shearer spoke about the Portuguese star's season and said:

"When you look at his career, and particularly his career at Manchester United, he started there, started very raw but unbelievable talent and you could see that from the beginning. And where he's got to… him and Messi have taken goal scoring to another level. It was ridiculous the number of goals these guys [have scored]."

Micah Richards pitched in a question to the two BBC pundits and asked how many goals they think will be scored by Cristiano Ronaldo this season. Lineker was the first to answer and claimed the Manchester United star would net 25 times if he stays fit.

"It depends how often [he plays], if he stays fit…25." said Gary Lineker.

However, Shearer was not willing to match the number quoted by Lineker and claimed it would be 20 Premier League goals this season.

"I think I'm right in saying the last time he failed to score 20 or more league goals in a season was the season he left Manchester United in 2009. You're pretty much guaranteed I would say 20 league goals."

Manchester United's Premier League season after Cristiano Ronaldo's return

Manchester United have made a decent start to the Premier League season as they sit fourth after seven games. The Red Devils have lost just once so far but have drawn twice – to Everton at Old Trafford and away at Southampton.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær is now under pressure after the performance dipped on the pitch, with Manchester United's results not being great of late. They were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by West Ham United while Young Boys stunned them in the Champions League.

Considering their recruitment over the summer transfer window, the fans are expecting their team to compete fiercely for the title. It remains to be seen if Solskjaer and his men can do the same.