Latest result

Wednesday August 19 Match

Liverpool4 - 0Stoke City

Hull City1 - 5Tottenham Hotspur

Burnley1 - 0Manchester United

Birmingham City1 - 0Portsmouth

Tuesday August 18 Match

Wigan Athletic0 - 1Wolverhampton Wanderers

Sunderland1 - 3Chelsea

Sunday August 16 Match

Tottenham Hotspur2 - 1Liverpool

Manchester United1 - 0Birmingham City

Saturday August 15 Match

Everton1 - 6Arsenal

Aston Villa0 - 2Wigan Athletic

Two games into the season and just one goal for Manchester United. Do the champions need to sign a striker before the transfer window closes?

Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez both left in the summer and took a lot of goals out of the United team.

The hardly prolific Antonio Valencia came in for Ronaldo and the oft written-off Michael Owen was brought in for Tevez, and despite starting the season against two promoted sides, United have found it hard to hit the target.

Is it time to press the panic button at Old Trafford and bring in a big name striker? And if yes, which forward do you think Sir Alex Ferguson should target?

Or is it too early to be questioning the squad strength at Old Trafford given that United are notoriously slow starters? Will the youthful talents of the likes Danny Welbeck and Federico Macheda be more than enough to supplement the goals of Owen, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov?

Sir Alex Ferguson is adamant that he will not go back into the transfer market to solve Manchester United's early season scoring problems.

A return of just one goal in the champions' first two fixtures, including Wednesday's shock defeat at Burnley, has led to suggestions that Ferguson could scrap his initial plan and make a move for one of Valencia's outstanding pair, David Villa and David Silva. However, Ferguson has insisted that will not happen.

"Did I say we wouldn't make any more signings?" he responded when quizzed on the subject on Friday morning. "That is it. I have already made the point - and I am sure of it. This is a great group of players."

The news might come as a disappointment to United fans, who are still struggling to adapt to life without Cristiano Ronaldo.

The United boss surprised many observers this summer when he revealed his intention to use Federico Macheda and Danny Welbeck as back-up to experienced trio Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen.

His faith in his current crop of players is undimmed, even if he does have a problem in central defence where Rio Ferdinand has been ruled out for three to four weeks with a thigh injury.

There is some good news on the injury front for United though as Ferdinand's central defensive partner Nemanja Vidic is set to make his first start of the season at the DW stadium on Saturday as United look to bounce back from Wednesday's shock defeat at Burnley.

"Nemanja has trained with us for 10 days and he is ready for the game," said Ferguson.

"Hopefully he will be okay by tomorrow."

PA Sport

COVENTRY SEAL CORK LOAN MOVE

Coventry have signed highly-rated Chelsea youngster Jack Cork on loan until the end of the year.




Chris Coleman's side are awaiting confirmation from the Football League before including Cork in their squad against Swansea on Saturday.



Two years ago, Cork scored twice against Coventry while on loan at Scunthorpe and his father Alan, was Coventry's reserve team manager when Micky Adams was in managerial hotseat.



Coleman told the club's official website: "This is another excellent addition to the squad and Jack is the second promising young Chelsea player to join our ranks this season.



"He is very highly-regarded at Stamford Bridge and he has already played close to 100 matches while on loan with other Football League clubs so has good experience for his age.



"We are delighted that they have let him come out on loan to us and this is a further sign of what we are trying to achieve at this club."

LEIJER MOVES BACK TO MELBOURNE

Defender Adrian Leijer has re-joined Melbourne Victory from Fulham for an undisclosed fee.
The 23-year-old has agreed a three-year-deal with the defending A-League champions after a two-year stint at Craven Cottage, during which time he failed to make a single first-team appearance.
Leijer also spent a brief spell on loan at Norwich earlier this year, but has opted to return home and add to his 41 appearances he made in two years with Melbourne.
The former A-League Young Player of the Year, who was part of Melbourne's championship-winning side in 2007, could feature in Saturday's meeting with North Queensland Fury with captain Kevin Muscat ruled out through injury and fellow defender Matthew Kemp doubtful with his wife set to give birth at the weekend.
Leijer made his international debut for Australia in a friendly against Singapore last year, while he also featured at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
"I've met him a couple of times on his return during his break. He certainly physically looks terrific," said Melbourne coach Ernie Merrick.
"He left as a 21-year old and now he's two years more mature, he's physically very strong. He tells me that some of the football he's been playing in the reserves has been very good.
"He's certainly matured as a person, and I think he's got excellent leadership capabilities."
Merrick has spoken to Leijer several times over the past few months and said that the fact the likes of current Socceroos Jason Culina, Mile Sterjovski, Jacob Burns and Chris Coyne have all returned to the A-League this season played a key factor in his decision.
"That seems to be the way that players, and the Socceroos especially are thinking. Look at the three Socceroos that have signed with Perth, Culina's gone back to Gold Coast," added Merrick.
"They know it is good quality football, they know of the Asian Champions League, which Adrian comes into now. They know that the national coach Pim Verbeek is based in Australia as opposed to Guus Hiddink, who was based in Europe. "There's tremendous opportunities in this A-League now. It's a full-time environment where the standard of competition seems to be increasing every year."

LAMPARD: UNITED WILL MISS RONALDO

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has told Manchester United they lost a virtually irreplaceable talent when Cristiano Ronaldo left the club this summer.
Lampard believes the departure of the Portuguese winger to Real Madrid has helped bring the reigning champions back to the Premier League pack.
But although the England man believes Ronaldo's match-winning qualities are only matched by Barcelona's Argentina star Lionel Messi, he insists the player's exit could be used by Sir Alex Ferguson as the spur for an increased team ethic.
"It is very difficult to replace Ronaldo," Lampard said.
"I saw Alex Ferguson say that himself and I don't think he will look to replace him. He will look to make the team strong as a whole by not having him. That is the only thing they can do.
"The amount of times I flicked on the telly and saw Ronaldo had scored and they had won one or two-nil. Messi is probably the only player you could replace Ronaldo with.
"That is probably one of our big pluses this year - we didn't lose our big players."
Reflecting on the impact Ronaldo's transfer has had on the title race, Lampard added:
"The league is probably closer now, which has been a bit of a natural thing over the past few years," he said. "In United's case, you don't want to draw the promoted teams so early in the season. They come out of the blocks to try and get some points. It [the defeat to Burnley] wasn't completely unexpected. I thought it might be a difficult game for them.
"We have now got a little bit of a lead over them and Liverpool. It is nice to get your noses in front."

EDUARDO FIT TO FACE POMPEY

Arsenal forward Eduardo is fit to face Portsmouth on Saturday after an injury scare just before kick-off against Celtic earlier in the week.
The Croatia international was among the substitutes at Parkhead but was replaced on the bench by Jack Wilshere when he suffered a groin complaint.
"Eduardo had a tight groin in the warm-up and he felt he could not play," said Gunners boss Arsene Wenger on Arsenal TV Online. "He had no power and we had to change [the teamsheet] quickly."
Wenger is cautious over committing Theo Walcott to a return from injury against Manchester United next week.
Walcott has missed the victories over Everton and Celtic with a back injury and is sidelined for this weekend's Barclays Premier League match against Pompey, with Wenger's men then facing Tony Mowbray's side again before the United clash.
"There is a slight concern but we believe it is a question of days and not of weeks," Wenger said.
"We will see [if he is fit to face Manchester United next Saturday]. It is always difficult to set a date. I thought he would be available for Celtic, I thought he would be available for Everton, but he wasn't. That's why we will be cautious."
Wenger added: "I don't believe we have anyone injured from Tuesday night's game at Celtic.
"Eduardo I believe will be back in contention but Theo Walcott will not be back at all. Rosicky, Djourou, Nasri, Fabianski - they will all be out."

AGGER BLOW FOR REDS

Daniel Agger will have back surgery next week and is likely to be out for six weeks, missing Monday night's clash with Aston Villa at Anfield.
The Liverpool defender has missed the first two Premier League games of the season, having been troubled with the injury all summer.
He adds to boss Rafael Benitez's defensive injury problems.
Martin Skrtel is also a doubt for the visit of Martin O'Neill's side, which means that teenager Daniel Ayala stands by having made his full debut in the 4-0 win over Stoke on Wednesday.
New Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos could also figure once his £2m move has been completed and international clearance acquired.
Teams:
Liverpool (from): Reina, Johnson, Ayala, Skrtel, Carragher, Insua, Dossena, Babel, Benayoun, Gerrard, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Torres, Voronin, Cavalieri, Kelly, Riera, Ngog, Spearing, Plessis.
Aston Villa (from): Will appear here......

RIO OUT FOR `THREE TO FOUR WEEKS`

Sir Alex Ferguson has ruled Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand out for another three to four weeks with a thigh injury.
Ferdinand suffered a slight tear in his thigh during training last week ahead of the Premier League opener against Birmingham.
Initially Ferguson felt that Ferdinand would only be sidelined for a couple of weeks. However, that estimate has now been revised.
"Rio is going to be out for three to four weeks," said Ferguson.
It means Ferdinand will miss Saturday's trip to Wigan, plus next Saturday's eagerly anticipated encounter with Arsenal.
In addition, Ferdinand now seems certain to miss the next two England games, starting with a friendly against Slovenia on September 5, then a World Cup qualifier against Croatia four days later, when victory would book the Three Lions' place in South Africa next summer.
It also raises concerns over Ferdinand's general fitness given the £29.1million defender suffered a back injury and a calf problem last season that kept him sidelined for extended periods.
There is some good news on the injury front for United though as Ferdinand's central defensive partner Nemanja Vidic is set to make his first start of the season at the DW stadium on Saturday as United look to bounce back from Wednesday's shock defeat at Burnley.
"Nemanja has trained with us for 10 days and he is ready for the game," said Ferguson.
"Hopefully he will be okay by tomorrow."

Stokes leaves for Scotland

Anthony Stokes has left Sunderland to join Scottish Premier League club Hibernian.

The 21-year-old moves for an undisclosed fee and has signed a three-year contract at Easter Road.
Manager Steve Bruce said: "We accepted an offer and we wish the boy the best of luck."
After starting his career with Arsenal, Stokes netted 14 league goals for Falkirk before joining the Black Cats in January 2007.



But the striker found it difficult to break into the first-team and made just 16 starts and 22 substitute appearances, scoring five goals.
Last season, the Irishman went out on loan to Championship club Sheffield United where he failed to score in 12 appearances. But he found the net on loan at Crystal Palace after playing 13 times for Neil Warnock's side.