Van Gaal: United have no 20-goal strikers

Louis van Gaal: 'Lack of goalscorer is hurting us in title race'

Despite having Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao at his disposal, Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has claimed there are no 20-goal strikers in his squad.

United have been far from prolific this season and their average return of 1.69 goals per game pales by comparison with Premier League pace-setters Chelsea and Manchester City (2.15).

Rooney (nine goals), Van Persie (10) and, in particular, Falcao (four) have struggled to find the net and Van Gaal believes that is one of the reasons why his side are vying for a top-four finish, rather than the title.

"It is true because I cannot deny it," said the Dutchman in comments published by several British newspapers on Saturday.

"Robin van Persie cannot deny it, Falcao cannot deny it and Rooney -- but he is not playing there (up front) so much any more. But we cannot deny that at this moment we don't have a striker who scores 20 goals in the season."

Despite Van Gaal's complaint, all three of his senior strikers have previously surpassed the 20-goal mark in a league season -- Van Persie twice, Rooney twice and Falcao three times.

With Van Persie sidelined by an ankle injury, on-loan Monaco striker Falcao was expected to start up front in United's home game with Sunderland on Saturday.