Premier League and Football League as it happened

Right, it's time for me to call it a day. Thanks for keeping me company over the last few hours and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I'm back on Friday night for the small matter of some World Cup qualifiers... the road to Brazil 2014 starts there for the home nations, so make sure you join me. Cheerio for now.

Now then, judging from what I can see on Twitter, a lot of people are calling Manchester United a one-man team after their dramatic win over Southampton. Which man is that, though? Sir Alex Ferguson might have different ideas to some of you...

"When Paul Scholes came on the pitch, it changed the game completely," Ferguson said.

"In the first half we were more or less in control and we thought second half "let's get down to business and get the game done".

"Credit to Southampton for getting ahead with another goal from a diagonal cross, but Scholes' consistency of passing gave us complete control and Robin Van Persie gave us two important goals."

I know you won't dare miss it but just a reminder that you can see all of today's Premier League action on MOTD2 at 22:25 BST on BBC One and this website (in the UK). As well as the late drama at St Mary's, I promise you Hatem Ben Arfa's peach of a strike for Newcastle is well-worth watching on its own.

Yes, Andreas Weimann is right - it is two weeks before the Premier League resumes. And I can't imagine Sir Alex Ferguson will be too happy to see Dutch striker Robin van Persie depart to play Turkey and Hungary, especially with his history of picking up injuries while on international duty.

Anyone want some more stats to reflect today's events? I thought so... Here are Infostrada Sport to supply us with some...

In his 1000th league match as Manchester United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson won his 599th match.

Robin van Persie not only scored his 100th PL goal, he netted his fourth PL hat-trick.

And Aston Villa have now gone 13 PL matches without a win, a new outright top-flight league record for the club.

Here's more from Sir Alex Ferguson, this time on his side's struggles at the back so far this term.

"Our best form came when Jonny Evans and Rio Ferdinand played regularly last season," the Manchester United boss explained. "We had four centre-backs out injured for our first game this season and Michael Carrick had to play centre-half.

"Rio was back today and in the second half he did better and ended up playing very well for us.

"If we can keep the centre-backs fit, it will give us a really good chance."

Hmmm, Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is clearly a bit frustrated - to say the least - by his side's display in their draw with Aston Villa.

"I can't say that we deserved to win and you could argue that Villa did," Pardew explained. "We were a bit funny today, we lacked discipline and our set-plays were awful.

"It was a nightmare from a coaching point of view. We were better in the second half but they still had chances. Both managers probably walk away and think a point is fair but we won't come across many teams that will work as hard as Villa did."

You have to feel for Southampton boss Nigel Adkins, who rightly talks about a fine performance from his team against Manchester United in his post-match interview, but knows his team are bottom of the Premier League with three defeats from three games."

"It's not a nice feeling," Adkins said. "We are used to winning as a football club. We scored two good goals, put a lot of effort into it but not seen it out. Still, we have to take positives from our performance - we are scoring goals and what we have to do is stop conceding them at the other end."

Lots to take in from today, so lets start with a recap of the three top-flight games. We will begin at Anfield...

Lest we forget, Aston Villa picked up a very impressive point today, their first of the season. Paul Lambert thinks they deserved it too.

"I thought we were excellent throughout, offensively and defensively," the Villa boss said following their 1-1 draw at Newcastle. "Some of the football we played was very good. We've got a young side and every one of them was very good. We'd rather try to play football than not and if we keep working as hard as that we'll do well. We're getting stronger."

Here's the man of the moment - Robin van Persie/Perfect/President, or whatever you want to call him. He apologises for his missed penalty, but then he sort of did that already with his match-winning hat-trick, didn't he?

"I don't know what I was thinking with the penalty. I was going to hit it hard but at the last second I changed my mind," Van Persie said. "I'm quite disappointed about it. I ask a certain standards from my game and at 2-1 down you cannot take a penalty like that.

"We were a bit lucky with the 2-2 and the dramatic end. I have to say a big thank you to Paul Scholes. When he came on, every single pass he hit was the right one. With him you are always on your toes. For me, he was the man of the match."

So, newly-promoted Southampton have now played both Manchester clubs - last season's top two - and led 2-1 each time but ended up losing. I bet Nigel Adkins doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson on his hat-trick hero Robin van Persie's missed penalty: "I was surprised because every time I've seen him take a penalty he usually rattles it into the corners, so I was confident. But he made up for it."

A couple of stats for you from OptaJoe for you to digest while you get your breath back after that little lot.

85 - Man Utd won a PL game they were losing with five minutes remaining for the first time since April 1993 (vs Sheff Wed). Drama

8 - Robin van Persie has reached 100 PL goals in 197 games, the eighth-quickest rate in the competition's history. Deadly.

That draw takes Aston Villa off the bottom of the fledgling Premier League table, to be replaced by... Southampton. Nigel Adkins' side are now the only top-flight team without a point, but never has last place been less deserved.

What a game that was. Southampton probably don't know how they lost it, but it was down to one man - Robin van Persie. He missed a penalty but he still takes home the matchball.

There will be five minutes of injury time at Sports Direct Arena... surely time for a winner there too, then?

There will be four minutes of added time at St Mary's. That second Robin van Persie goal was his 99th in the Premier League - is there time for his 100th today too?

If they do want to win it, United have got some defending to do first. Nemanja Vidic gets the merest of touches on a corner to stop Jos Hooiveld getting on the end of it and restoring Southampton's lead.

There are only five minutes of the 90 left for Manchester United to find an equaliser. Southampton are now defending deep and in numbers, but they still look dangerous on the break. Whatever happens, we are in for an exciting finish now.

A rare chance for Aston Villa to retake the lead. The ball falls for nicely for Stephen Ireland on the edge of the Newcastle box but he snatches at his shot and ends up blasting it a long way off target.

Manchester United need some inspiration from somewhere, but they only succeed in turning attack into defence. Rafael meets a corner on the edge of the box but is bustled off the ball and ends up dragging back Steven Davis to prevent a counter-attack - he is lucky to escape a yellow card there.

Again, United's defence is torn to shreds. Rickie Lambert springs the offside trap and it takes a last-ditch challenge from Nemanja Vidic to stop his low cross reaching James Ward-Prowse.

"Lambert for England" is the chant from the St Mary's stands. Why not? If Jay Bothroyd is an England striker, so is Rickie Lambert.

Manchester United's defence is looking very vulnerable right now - they need a linesman's flag to (wrongly) rescue them as Rickie Lambert looks to chase another through-ball. Sir Alex Ferguson's men have got 25 minutes to salvage something from this game and avoid a second-successive away defeat.

BBC Sport's Nabil Hassan at St Mary's: "St Mary's is rocking as Southampton go back in front. Nigel Adkins has got his tactics spot on here and Sir Alex Ferguson desperately needed to change things with that double switch. United look desperately out of sorts."

Looks like Manchester United are about to make a double substitution, with 30 minutes left. They need to try something different, because Southampton are looking very dangerous right now - Jason Puncheon has just smashed another shot over the bar.

Lots going on in the north east too, as Newcastle spurn a great chance to level.

Hatem Ben Arfa is left unmarked in the Aston Villa box 10 yards out but he heads straight at Brad Guzan. If that chance had fallen to Papiss Cisse or Demba Ba, you suspect there might have been a different outcome.

Almost a third for Southampton, as Patrice Evra's nightmare continues. Jason Puncheon turns Evra inside out and makes space for a stinging low shot that Anders Lindegaard does well to turn round his near post.

A real let-off for Southampton here. Kelvin Davis gives the ball straight to Antonio Valencia and, when he rolls the ball across the edge of the area for Robin van Persie to let fly, Saints fans probably fear the worse. Instead, Van Persie miscues and slices his shot wide.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa have come out all guns blazing at the start of the second half. No chances to speak of, but they are dominating possession and territory too.

So far, Shinji Kagawa and Robin van Persie have not linked up in the same electric fashion they did against Fulham last weekend, but the Manchester United duo do combine well here.

Van Persie slides Kagawa into space on the edge of the Southampton box and his fierce shot ends up only a couple of yards wide of goal. Kelvin Davis dived to try and reach it but he was grateful to see it fly wide.

The road to the 2014 World Cup starts for most European countries on Friday so it is apt that the name of the ball they will use in the finals in Brazil has just been announced - the Brazuca.

For me that just conjures up connotations of some very dangerous-sounding underwear but, as long as it bounces, and doesn't change direction in mid-air like that blasted Jabulani did at South Africa 2010, I don't really care what they call it.

It's only half-time but, as things stand, Aston Villa and Southampton are in line for their first points of the season.

Ciaran Clark's goal means Villa have leapt up eight places from 20th to 12th while, for Saints, holding Manchester United means they hop up just the one place from 19th to 18th.

Southampton have kept Robin van Persie fairly quiet since his goal but he almost caught them out here, right on the stroke of half-time.

Michael Carrick pinged a beautifully lobbed pass over the Saints defence and found Van Persie running through on goal, but this time the Dutchman's control lets him down and the ball rolls out of play.

Newcastle are back on the attack too, with Gael Bigirimana sending over a decent delivery from the right that Papiss Cisse should do a lot better with - but he sends his header wide from about six yards out.

Villa still lead 1-0 and we are into injury time at the end of the first-half.

Better from United, who have got some of their poise back and are building attacks more patiently now.

Their latest attack again involves Antonio Valencia down the right and, with Saints defender Nathaniel Clyne slipping over, Patrice Evra is unmarked when he meets his cross at the back post. Evra directs a bouncing header goalwards but he cannot get enough power behind it to beat Kelvin Davis.

Villa seem to have weathered the Newcastle storm, or at least survived that flurry of Magpies attacks. Paul Lambert's side have not managed to create any sort of opening since they took the lead, but at least they are not defending for dear life any more.

Saints are neat and tidy when they get the ball but the final pass is eluding them at the moment. United are a lot more direct but are not getting much joy in attack at the moment either - we have been playing for 37 minutes and the 1-1 scoreline is a fair reflection on the game.

Nice work by Adam Lallana as Southampton look to counter, with his clever run getting him behind the United defence and into their area. His eventual cross from the right isn't bad either, but it ends up looping to deep for Rickie Lambert, and United clear.

Manchester United are indeed looking for more goals. Robin van Persie is, unsurprisingly, involved again but he is off target this time, curling a free-kick over the Saints wall from 25 yards out but also wide of Kelvin Davis' right-hand post.

BBC Sport's Nabil Hassan at St Mary's: "That's what £24m gets you. Robin van Persie, whose movement has been excellent throughout, finds space inside the Saints box to level for United. Noteworthy that, having been very narrow throughout the game, the first time United play with any width through Valencia they scored. Saints are on the rack here."

Newcastle continue to knock on the door. First, Demba Ba crosses for Papiss Cisse, who gets plenty of power behind his shot but sees it turned round the post by Brad Guzan.

Then Davide Santon fizzes a shot wide from the edge of the area. Not sure whether Guzan would have got to that.

BBC Sport's Nabil Hassan at St Mary's: "Cracking atmosphere inside St Mary's as Rickie Lambert heads Southampton in front. It followed a period of decent possession from the hosts with Adam Lallana and fellow midfielder James Ward-Prowse showing just why Saints boss Nigel Adkins rates them so highly."

A goal at St Mary's and a chance at Sports Direct Arena. It's all happening... Villa are the team who go close, and it falls for the man they'd want it to fall to, Darren Bent. He cuts onto his left foot on the right side of the box and drives a low effort which is parried by Tim Krul, then Fabricio Coloccini reacts quickest to deny Andreas Weimann a simple tap-in.

Here's Southampton's first sniff of goal, from a cleverly-worked corner. Saints push everyone on to the United goal-line before Adam Lallana peels away and cuts back to meet a low delivery near the penalty spot... he does not connect with his shot, however, and the ball trickles wide.

Saints come forward with a bit of purpose for the first time, with Rickie Lambert scrapping for the ball on the edge of the United area, before Jason Puncheon tries to find Lambert with a looping deep cross. United hold out, comfortably, but perhaps they won't get things all their own way today.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the country, it has been a very quiet start at Sports Direct Arena. Newcastle have lifted a couple of balls into the Villa area but Brad Guzan, in for Shay Given today, deals with them comfortably enough.

A first half-chance for Robin van Persie, latching on to a lofted pass from Michael Carrick, taking the ball down on his chest... and pulling his shot wide. United are still well on top here but they are yet to create their first real opening.

Southampton cannot get out of their own half but are at least holding on to the ball now. United did have a shot on goal during that spell of early pressure, but Rafael's drilled effort from the edge of the box was blocked.

United have made a fast start, and are camped in the Saints half already.

In the north-east, Newcastle threatened from a free-kick when Fabricio Coloccini collected the ball in the area, but his shot was deflected wide.

The Newcastle players are wearing training tops with a message reading 'Ryan Taylor over the wall' on the back. Not sure what that means (possibly his free-kick prowess) but it is obviously directed at their defender, who is out for several months after suffering a cruciate injury in the Europa League win against Atromitos on Thursday.

The players are in the tunnel at St Mary's. Southampton are wearing that red-with-white-pinstripes kit that makes them look like a 1980s Liverpool.

United are in their white shirts and black shorts away strip - good thing they didn't put them in the wash together, otherwise they might have been in grey again.

It's fair to say that Brendan Rodgers has had a difficult start to his time as Liverpool boss. After today's defeat by Arsenal, he has only one point from three league games at Anfield but is backing his side to turn things round after the international break.

"I am disappointed with the scoreline and the goals we conceded," Rodgers said. "I can't fault the players, they have given everything but we have things to work on, needing to keep the ball better and Arsenal did that well in the final period. Giving the ball away has nothing to do with the style of play. There is a long way to go. We should have had a penalty when Luis Suarez was fouled but you need to stick the ball in the net."

Gaston Ramirez, Southampton's £12m new record signing, has just been paraded to fans at St Mary's. No new faces in the United squad, although Rio Ferdinand is making his first appearance of the season.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been talking before kick-off at St Mary's about his decision to drop David de Gea: "I think young David made a mistake last week and he knows it. He's been in good form and made some great saves, but that mistake could have cost us a game. It's just a learning process for him. He will be back in the team in a couple of weeks' time."

Ferguson will take charge of his 1000th league match as United manager today and added "It's been a fantastic period and a fantastic journey."

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger sounds pretty pleased too, after seeing his side follow up their draws against Sunderland and Stoke with a win at Anfield.

"The sharpness gets better from game to game but overall we looked solid and scored two goals," Wenger said. "We missed opportunities on the counter-attack at the start of the game but we had a convincing team performance."

So, an impressive win for Arsenal, and an impressive display by Abou Diaby. The Arsenal midfielder ran the show at times and was happy to help his side register their first Premier League win of the season.

"We are really happy to win after drawing first two games," Diaby said. "We were very strong defensively. It means a lot to me because I really want to play football, this year I am back and I hope to stay like this until the end of the season. The whole team have had a strong game and we need to keep going."

By the way, Marian Pahars may well still be the Latvian Michael Owen, but that doesn't mean he is now spending his days watching Sky Sports News and tweeting every couple of hours about how he will be "getting a new club soon".

Pahars, who left Southampton in 2006 after scoring 43 goals in 137 league games, is now manager of top Latvian team Skonto.

Thing is, that was when Southampton played at The Dell, an old-school ramshackle stadium but one that always seemed to have an electric atmosphere, especially when the big-boys were in town.

Saints record againt United at St Mary's, where they moved to in 2001, has not been quite so impressive. Marian Pahars scored the winner when the two sides last met at the Dell but, since then, Southampton have won only once in the seven occasions they have hosted Sir Alex Ferguson's men.

In his preview for today's game, Jonathan Pearce recalls a 2-1 win for United in the spring of 2005 that saw Southampton relegated. This is the first time they have met in the top flight since.

Not so long ago, Southampton always SEEMED to beat Manchester United.

They didn't, obviously, but the two sides have had some of the most memorable meetings in the Premier League era, including three straight home wins for the Saints starting in the 1995/96 season, a time when they were relegation fodder and United were the dominant force in English football.

Yes, I'm talking the grey kit debacle (when United changed kits after trailing 3-0 at half-time), Egil Ostenstad's hat-trick, Matt Le Tissier's delicious lob and also a Kevin Davis winner.

Plenty of fall-out to come from that result at Anfield, but let's turn our attention to St Mary's and the Sports Direct Arena, and our two top-flight 16:00 kick-offs...

Liverpool are without a win after three games of the new season but things are looking up for Arsenal. They have now kept three clean sheets and are up to seventh in the fledgling Premier League table.

We are into the last minute of added time. Brendan Rodgers is about to equal the worst start for a Liverpool manager (Roy Evans also got one point) over three league games since George Patterson in 1927.

Again, Thomas Vermaelen comes to Arsenal's rescue. He is in the right place to put off Luis Suarez as he runs on to Steven Gerrard's through-ball. Suarez balloons his shot over - it really isn't Liverpool's day in front of goal.

Liverpool are running out of time but they are still trying to get back into this game, even if they are still being restricted to efforts from range.

Jonjo Shelvey exchanges passes with Steven Gerrard and makes space for a powerful shot from the edge of the area that Vito Mannone pushes away and Thomas Vermaelen reacts quickly to beat Luis Suarez to the loose ball.

Just five minutes left at Anfield. The Arsenal fans are making all the noise, as you might expect. Brendan Rodgers has quite a lot to think about during the international break.

Liverpool's best effort for a while sees Stewart Downing's stinging shot deflected wide but they are leaving some wide-open spaces at the back, and Jose Enrique has to scramble to deny Olivier Giroud as he looks to get on the end of a long ball forward.

Arsenal are content to play keep-ball now, whereas Liverpool are desperate to get the ball forward at every opportunity. Their problem is what they do when they reach the edge of the Gunners' area - that is where most of their attacks seem to end.

Liverpool are not getting any closer to pulling a goal back. Jonjo Shelvey has just skewed a shot well wide of Vito Mannone's goal from the edge of the area and, in truth, the Reds seem to have run out of ideas up front.

It looked a nasty injury when I saw it yesterday, and Swansea City defender Neil Taylor has now been ruled out for the rest of the season with a broken ankle.

Ian Walsh, BBC Radio Wales at Cardiff City Stadium: "It's the best Championship game I've seen for a long while in terms of quality. The introduction of Craig Noone for Cardiff City on the left wing has been fantastic. He's an out-and-out winger and a joy to watch. Cardiff deserve to be ahead but Wolves have shown plenty to suggest they can score again."

Arsenal's best moments continue to come on the break. This time the ball falls for Santi Cazorla on the edge of the area and his low shot is only a few inches wide of Pepe Reina's left-hand post.

Martin Skrtel sparks an almighty goalmouth scramble after getting on the end of a corner - that isn't really the Liverpool way, let alone the Brendan Rodgers way, but they will take a goal any way they can get one now. Arsenal clear their lines but Steven Gerrard quickly bends the ball back into the danger zone, bringing Vito Mannone off his line to dive in and intercept his cross.

We are into the last 30 minutes at Anfield, where Arsenal lead 1-0. Liverpool have done most of the attacking of late but Arsenal are still threatening sporadically. Their latest effort sees Carl Jenkinson cut in from the right and fire in a daisy-cutter that Pepe Reina easily collects.

Luis Suarez goes to ground again, after being bundled off the ball by Thomas Vermaelen. It probably was a foul, having seen it again, but he made a right old meal of it which is probably why Howard Webb allows play to continue.

Stewart Downing does not take long to get involved, thinking about a shot himself before teeing up Luis Suarez on the edge of the box with a back-heel. Suarez takes aim and powers in a fizzing drive down the throat of Vito Mannone, who tips it over the bar.

This is impressive stuff from Arsenal - they are spraying the ball around nicely and Liverpool are chasing shadows at the moment.

It is Arsenal who begin on the attack, with Santi Cazorla powering in a shot from the edge of the area that is blocked before it reaches Pepe Reina.

Arsenal, on the other hand, are resembling a proper cohesive unit. Yes, they are only having to soak up Liverpool's pretty lacklustre attacks, but they are keeping the home side quiet and looking dangerous whenever they break forward. If Olivier Giroud had steered his shot two yards to the right, they would be 2-0 up now.

Liverpool have not really got going yet, have they? We've not seen much of Nuri Sahin on the ball and Joe Allen has not had much possession outside of his own half. The Reds have got some life up front because Raheem Sterling and Luis Suarez are buzzing around, but Fabio Borini was not wearing his shooting boots in the first half.

Raheem Sterling is definitely Liverpool's most dangerous player at the moment, dashing around and keeping the Arsenal defence on their toes. His shot into the side-netting remains the Reds' best chance of a frustrating first-half.

There will be two minutes of added time at the end of the first half at Anfield, and we have already had one minute of it.

Liverpool had a shout for a penalty just before that latest Arsenal counter-attack, with Per Mertesacker stretching out a long leg to stop Raheem Sterling in his tracks. Howard Webb felt he got the ball, though, and replays show the referee was right.

Only a couple of minutes left until half-time at Anfield. The first 45 minutes have not been the most exciting of the season, but Arsenal will not care if they go in at the break in front.

Arsenal have had to do a lot of defending in the last few minutes but they should really be 2-0 up after breaking forward again. This time Abou Diaby strides forward and plays in Olivier Giroud, but his first-time shot flies wide. Liverpool have to be careful here.

Better by Liverpool, starting when Fabio Borini does brilliantly to keep the ball in play by the right-hand by-line. He ends up hoisting the ball into the Arsenal area and Thomas Vermaelen makes a mess of his header, allowing Raheem Sterling to collect the ball, twist into space and smash a rasping shot into the side netting. That is the closest the Reds have come to scoring so far.

There has not much of a response from Liverpool since they fell behind, although Brendan Rodgers' side have had a couple of corners.

Almost 25 minutes gone at Anfield and we await our first decent chance, let alone our first goal. Both sides are lacking a bit of quality and cutting-edge in the final third so far - which probably won't come as much of a shock to Liverpool or Arsenal fans.

Arsenal are not under any great pressure, however, and they are seeing a fair bit of the ball themselves. Thomas Vermaelen charges forward after Luis Suarez loses possession, but he drags his shot well wide of Pepe Reina's goal.

The home side are definitely pushing hardest at the moment, and they have just had another couple of sniffs. First, Carl Jenkinson gives the ball away and allows Fabio Borini to take another pot-shot, which is blocked. Then Luis Suarez tries a clever lob over Vito Mannone, which doesn't quite come off.

I wouldn't say this game is exactly opening up but we are seeing some chances at both ends. Liverpool threaten again when Steven Gerrard swings in an inviting corner but Daniel Agger, who is in acres of space, cannot make meaningful contact. A bit of a waste, that.

Arsenal's first shot on goal follows soon afterwards. After a neat build-up, the ball breaks for Santi Cazorla on the edge of the box but his low shot is straight at Pepe Reina.

Liverpool striker Fabio Borini is certainly not afraid to have a pop, but again he is off target. This time Luis Suarez feeds him on the right-hand edge of the area, but his angled drive does not come close to testing Vito Mannone.

Our first shot on goal, and it comes from Liverpool's Fabio Borini. He advances from the halfway line, with the Arsenal defence retreating in front of him. That leaves the Italian space for a shot, which he sends skidding past Vito Mannone's right-hand post.

This game has been on the scrappy side so far, and there have even been a couple of long balls from Liverpool... not what you would expect from a Brendan Rodgers side, that. Arsenal are also yet to settle.

Moving swiftly on, the players have just emerged from the tunnel at Anfield. Today marks 99 years since legendary former Reds boss Bill Shankly was born, and there are several banners paying tribute to him in the stands.

And there was me thinking Liverpool and Arsenal had signed Noone (No-one). Geddit? Oh, forget it then...

It seems Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is expecting some goals today, though, and yes he thinks the Gunners will score them.

Speaking before kick-off at Anfield, he said: "The opening two games we faced two teams (Sunderland and Stoke) who defended very well and took minimum risk, but today will be more open and the pace of the game will be very high."

"We want to score goals because that is our strength without losing our defensive solidity. Liverpool are a good side and we will be tested defensively but I am sure we will score."

Goals are a problem for Arsenal at the moment too - they have not conceded any in their first two games, but they have not scored any either. Still, Santi Cazorla looks a catch and he is sure to create a few chances for the men up top. Ditto with Nuri Sahin for Liverpool - it will be interesting to see how he links up with Joe Allen in the Reds midfield.

Lawro is predicting a tight game at Anfield today, but he remains worried about the threat Liverpool pose in front of goal.

"They were good last weekend and deserved to beat Manchester City but their problem - and this is the same one from last year - is goals," he explained. "If Luis Suarez doesn't score or Steven Gerrard chip in, who is going to score on a regular basis? How they perform in front of goal will be the main difference between finishing fourth or not."

Speaking before kick-off, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers does not sound a very happy chappy when he is asked if he would have liked to have brought more players in before the transfer window shut. "That was always the plan," Rodgers said. "We would like to have strengthened of course but my focus and concentration now is on the players we have got."

No heat for Brendan Rodgers from the Liverpol fans, though. It is the club's owners who are getting most of the stick for the Reds' failure to strengthen their strike force.

Will his opposite number at Arsenal Arsene Wenger get such a sympathetic hearing if his side's winless start continues today?

We are barely into September, yet some managers are already feeling the early-season heat. I'm talking to you Mark Hughes and Andre Villas-Boas. There has been a rumour that Nigel Adkins is on his way out of Southampton too, which would be incredibly harsh when you also bear in mind he has just led them to back-to-back promotions, but the club have denied reports that Harry Redknapp is set to return to St Mary's.

So what are we expecting today? Will it be Arsenal or Liverpool getting off the mark, will Aston Villa get off the bottom of the table and will Southampton roll back the years to surprise Manchester United? I want you to share your thoughts on your club's transfer window activity too.

Tweet the text commentary using the hashtag #bbcfootball or text me on 81111. Make sure you put YOUR NAME on those texts, though, because I can't use them otherwise.

The Reds meet the Gunners at Anfield (at 13:30 BST) in the first of today's three top-flight games, with both Brendan Rodgers and Arsene Wenger looking for their first Premier League win of the season.

That game is followed by Newcastle against rock-bottom (yes I know they've only played twice) Aston Villa and Southampton against Manchester United (both at 16:00).

We've also got action in the Championship (Cardiff v Wolves, KO 14:00), League One (Preston v Swindon 15:00) and the Scottish Premier League (Hearts v Dundee and Motherwell v Inverness CT both 15:00) to look forward to. Fill those boots.

Yes, with Clint Dempsey joining Tottenham, it's fair to say that Liverpool fans did not get the finish to the transfer window they wanted. Mind you, at least they can compare notes about underwhelming deadline-day dealings and lack of transfer funds in the club coffers with their Arsenal counterparts today... he has never actually CALLED HIMSELF a nutcase, but some Gunners fans have been questioning Arsene Wenger's sanity for years.

Unlike Liverpool, the Gunners are not short of new strikers, in the shape of Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski, but we are still waiting to really see how Arsene Wenger's men will shape up in the absence of Robin van Persie and Alex Song, who left this summer to become the latest in a long line of star departures.

Hello. Before I go on, the astute among you might have noticed that Andy Carroll put in a man-of-the-match performance yesterday... for West Ham.

Liverpool's striker signings in the last week before the window shut? One.

Eighteen-year-old Samed Yesil, who joined from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of around £1m and told the club's official website: "The first thing is that I have to train and then in one or two years I hope, step by step, to be in the first team."

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers, speaking on 23 August about his limited options up front: "I need a minimum of three strikers - once the window shuts, that is it until January.

"I have got Luis Suarez, Fabio Borini and Andy Carroll. So I would need to be a nutcase to even consider at this moment letting Andy Carroll go out, unless there are other solutions for that."