THE bookies might have closed the book on the destiny of the golden boot this season following the big money arrival of Ruud van Nistelrooy.

But Ewood hot-shot Matt Jansen still fancies his chances of making a big impact on his Premiership return.

And what better way to underline his striking credentials than outshining the flying Dutchman in a straight head-to-head at Ewood?

Jansen is in a unique band as far as footballers go in terms of the fact he actually once turned down the chance of a move to United in favour of Crystal Palace.

But had he opted for Old Trafford then he might just have saved Sir Alex Ferguson £18 million -- the price it cost him to recruit 'van the man' from PSV Eindhoven this summer.

Both men are pivotal characters in their respective teams and tonight's game promises to be an intriguing shoot-out between two players currently at the top of their game.

Van Nistelrooy has started his United career like a house on fire, scoring twice on his full league debut on Sunday just days after shooting down England with Holland.

But Jansen also looked red-hot in pre-season and but for a dodgy offside decision he, too, would have opened his league account on Saturday.

That, however, is where the comparisons stop because when you compare the two together, they are strikers of a different breed.

The Dutchman is more of an out-and-out finisher -- an instinctive goal-poacher in the Marco Van Basten mould.

Jansen, in contrast, is more of a showman, equally capable of the spectacular as well as the simple, although manager Graeme Souness admits he leaves him tearing his hair out at times.

"Matt was frustrating the life out of everyone a year ago and everyone else who had worked with him said the same," said Souness.

"But he has worked very hard on trying to become more of a team player and he's come on in leaps and bounds as a result.

"Nobody ever doubted his natural ability but the question is can he learn to be part of a team?

"So this is a big season for the likes of him and one or two of our younger players and it's going to be interesting to see how he handles it."