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Caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has insisted Paul Pogba could captain Manchester United in the future. Pogba, 25, was stripped of the vice-captaincy by former United boss Jose Mourinho in September following claims of a rift between the pair. However, with Mourinho having been sacked Pogba has flourished, scoring five goals and tallying four assists amid United's Solskjaer-led revival. And Solskjaer has now backed Pogba for the armband at Old Trafford. "I know the boy from before, and he is a leader," Solskjaer told reporters prior to Friday's FA Cup fourth-round clash against Arsenal. "He's a character, he influences people, and you've seen the videos from France, and he cares, and he really wants to be successful. "He knows he can't do it by himself, it's a team game, and he's a character that brings so many good things with him when he's enjoying himself, I have to say. "You see the personality. He'd love playing fo...

Arsenal revived their hopes of a top-four finish with first-half goals by Alexandre Lacazette and Laurent Koscielny securing a comfortable 2-0 derby win at home to Chelsea on Saturday. Victory, only Arsenal’s third at home in the league against Chelsea in 10 years, left them in fifth place but cut the gap on their fourth-placed London rivals to three points. A scintillating first half saw chances galore for Unai Emery’s side who began the match in sixth spot after Manchester United’s earlier win against Brighton and Hove Albion. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang should have scored early on but sliced wide from in front of goal but strike partner Lacazette was more clinical with a superb opener after 14 minutes. Arsenal doubled their lead in the 39th minute when skipper Koscielny mistimed an attempted header but the ball came off his shoulder and beyond Blues keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. Marcos Alonso headed against the post on the stroke of halftime for Maurizio Sarri’s side who were perhaps fort...

LIVERPOOL, England -- There are many reasons for Liverpool supporters to feel optimistic about their team's chances of ending a 29-year wait for a league title this season, but the goals conceded column is probably the most important of them all. Having completed a 5-1 destruction of Arsenal at Anfield to move nine points clear at the top of the Premier League, three days after hitting four goals past Newcastle, the strength of Jurgen Klopp's team is clearly its ability to score at will against almost any opponent. The same, though, could be said of Brendan Rodgers' side back in 2013-14, with Luis Suarez the focal point of an attacking force that scored 101 goals in 38 league games. The problem then was that Liverpool were not quite as impressive at the other end; the main reason they finished runners-up to Manchester City in the title race was because they conceded 50 times. In the final reckoning, Rodgers' men were not defensively strong enough to win the title, and t...

When their relationship reached breaking point in September it felt inevitable that only one from Paul Pogba and Jose Mourinho would survive long-term at Manchester United and the biggest surprise was just how rapidly the manager was ejected in the weeks that followed. As for Pogba, he may never be the player whom United hoped they were signing, one that could be transformative for a whole generation rather than just the occasional game, but the unshakeable confidence of the man who cost £89million endures nonetheless. Sometimes that can translate into the anonymous, careless performances that infuriate managers and other times, as with this occasion, he can deliver two goals and finish the day dancing in front of the Stretford End. Pogba was not United’s best player against Huddersfield, but when the moment demanded he buried two second half goals with the self-belief that seems impervious to the criticism that has followed in the wake of Mourinho’s departure. It was a little taste of...

O le Gunnar Solskjaer begins with a win. And a fine win at that. Rashford, Herrera, Martial and Lingard (2) all on the scoresheet as Man Utd hit Cardiff City for five. It's not even about how many goals were scored, it was the manner of the performance and the confidence. Yes, Cardiff were not the toughest of opponents but it was like the shackles were off for those United players.  Question is though, where were they under Mourinho?

J amie Vardy pounced to give Leicester and under-fire manager Claude Puel a valuable and worthy 1-0 win at Chelsea. Eden Hazard hit the crossbar in the first half and Vardy punished Chelsea's profligacy six minutes into the second half to ease the pressure on Puel with Leicester's first win at Stamford Bridge in 18 years. Maurizio Sarri's Blues, for whom Marcos Alonso hit a post in stoppage time, have now lost three of their last six Premier League games and  desperately need a goalscorer to ease the burden on Hazard . The Foxes had won just two of their nine games since the October 27 helicopter crash which resulted in the death of five people, including chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. A run of two wins in 12 games had led to speculation Puel's position was in jeopardy, but a first win at Chelsea since September 2000 should ease the pressure. Vardy admitted the Frenchman's patient style did not suit him ahead of the contest, but his strike showed the value of ha...

R oy Hodgson never looked like being the man to bring the league title back to Anfield. Should Liverpool become champions for the first time since 1990, however, they may owe a debt of gratitude to their least popular manager of modern times. Liverpool take a four-point lead into Christmas after Hodgson’s Crystal Palace produced arguably the most unexpected result of the season to date. A side with a solitary point in their previous six away games ended the country’s only 100 per cent home league record. Manchester City were defeated and seemingly dumbfounded. Palace, who had not even scored a league goal at the Etihad Stadium since 2005, mustered three in 18 minutes. Andros Townsend’s thunderbolt was the shot that reshaped the title race. City delivered an unusually ragged display to get an uncharacteristic result as, for the first time in 23 months, they lost a league game to anyone outside the ‘big six’. While their supporters spent the early exchanges chorusing ‘bring back Mourinho...