Ferguson is troubled by scoring crisis

Sparta Prague 0 Man Utd 0

Manchester United go into Sunday's clash with Arsenal with something of a goalscoring crisis.

The 0-0 draw at Sparta Prague last night means they have now netted just one goal in four-and-a-half hours since they put six past Fenerbahce three weeks ago.

The result was their second goalless draw in four days after the one at Birmingham at the weekend.

Even the late introduction of Louis Saha and Cristiano Ronaldo at the Toyota Arena could not produce a breakthrough, and their hopes of stopping Arsenal going 50 games unbeaten seems unlikely.

But United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is confident his strikers Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wayne Rooney, Saha and Alan Smith cannot be kept quiet for long.

He said: "It is always a concern when you don't score, particularly with a team that have such a great strike rate. Some of our approach play was good but we let ourselves down with the final ball.

"Sparta had the better chances, even though we were generally in control of the game. But we do have players who can score and hopefully the situation will turn."

Ferguson will be hoping Van Nistelrooy will be available for Sunday's clash, even though the Dutchman has yet to score in open play for United in the Premiership this season.

Van Nistelrooy is bound to have plenty of bumps and bruises dished out by a robust Sparta defence. He did hand out some punishment of his own, notably to full-back Pavel Pergl, who took a heavy bang in the face from the striker's elbow, an incident Sparta coach Frantisek Straka insisted was not premeditated.