As belief grows at Old Trafford, Jose Mourinho feels Manchester United can achieve a higher finish than fourth spot in the Premier League.

Lured to Manchester to restore the glory days following several seasons of underachieving since Alex Ferguson s title-winning farewell in 2013, Mourinho s side are showing signs of life after a stuttering start to the campaign.

Having gone eight top-flight games unbeaten, United find themselves only four points adrift of fourth-placed Arsenal and seven behind Liverpool, who are second in the standings after 17 games.

While he refused to set a definitive target amid fierce competition, United manager Mourinho is quietly confident of a strong finish.

For me to be happy, it s an accumulation of factors. For me to be…

Rotherham United s Kirk Broadfoot has been handed a 10-match ban for reportedly aiming verbal abuse at then-Wigan Athletic forward James McClean.

The 30-year-old former Rangers defender was found guilty by the Football Association (FA) for using  abusive and/or insulting words towards a member of the opposition during the sides  Championship fixture in March.

That player is believed to be McClean now at Premier League club West Brom with the abuse reported to be a of a sectarian nature.

Republic of Ireland international McClean has been in the headlines this week after snubbing the English national anthem during a pre-season tour with West Brom.

Broadfoot s ban is longer than the eight-match suspension handed to Liverpool s Luis Suarez when he was fou…

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Ahead of their quarter-final clash with Premier League rivals Bournemouth, Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is expected to make a string of changes before his side face Everton next weekend. With their Premier League title all but gone, Chelsea will know that this years EFL trophy could be a vital piece of silverware.

Chelsea

Although Conte s side may have already surrendered their Premier League crown to Manchester City, Chelsea have enjoyed a respectable start to their campaign. The Blues have only lost just once in their last 10 top-flight outings. As it stands, the club are third in the table, three points behind Manchester United and 14 adrift of Pep Guardiola s high-flying City. At tim…

Wayne Rooney is convinced Manchester United s wait to find the right replacement for Alex Ferguson has ended with the arrival of Jose Mourinho.

United s record goalscorer continues to be hugely impressed with the former Chelsea boss, who led the club to their first major final since his appointment in the EFL Cup this week.

Club captain Rooney feels a period of adaption was to be expected after Ferguson s trophy-laden 26-year reign came to an end, but is now confident of a spell of success under Mourinho s leadership.

I think that s part of football, Rooney told BBC Sport of United s years without their previous dominance after Ferguson retired in 2013.

Obviously Manchester United have had the stability of Sir Alex over the 26 years before.

I…

Vinicius Junior had a great season despite Real Madrid falling short in domestic competitions and the Champions League.

Madrid splashed out a reported €45million to sign Vinicius in May 2017 when the winger was just 16 years old but let him stay on loan at Flamengo for another year.

The Brazilian teenager made the move to Europe ahead of the 2018-19 season, which he started by playing for Castilla before becoming a regular part of the first team under Santiago Solari.

Vinicius developed rapidly and was keeping Gareth Bale out of the side after the turn of the year, but an ankle injury sustained against Ajax on March 5 ruled him out for two months and cost him a place in Brazil s Copa America squad.

And although Los Blancos were eliminated from the Champ…

Atletico Madrid out-of-favour forward Yannick Ferreira Carrasco is set to leave the La Liga giants, according to reports coming from the

The paper claims Belgium international has been given all clear to seal his move to the Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang who offered €30 million for the 24-year-old. French giants AS Monaco will be receiving 25% of the total transfer fee as part of the agreement made in 2015 when Carrasco moved to Spain.

Once a key player for Diego Simeone’s side, Yannick Ferreira Carrasco has lost his place in the first team and his fall from grace will now reach its conclusion with a transfer that’s likely to be sealed as early as this week.

Carrasco’s agents are currently negotiating personal details of the proposed move to C…

Roberto Mancini was pleased with Italy s response to their weekend draw with Switzerland as they cruised past Lithuania 5-0 to set a new all-time record of 37 matches without defeat.

The Azzurri equalled Brazil s record with an underwhelming 0-0 draw against Switzerland on Sunday but they moved clear of the Selecao with a resounding win at Mapei Stadium on Wednesday.

Moise Kean was the star of the show, the Juventus man scoring twice in a pulsating first half that also saw an own goal from Edgaras Utkus and a Giacomo Raspadori strike – the Sassuolo man s first in international football.

Giovanni Di Lorenzo scored after the break as the European champions moved onto 14 points at the top of World Cup qualifying Group C, six points clear of second-place Switzerl…

Gianluigi Buffon is set to be sanctioned by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) after he was found to have used a blasphemous expression during Juventus 4-0 win at Parma in December.

The FIGC s disciplinary committee will now consider Buffon s case, with the veteran goalkeeper expected to receive a one-match ban.

A statement from the federation said Buffon was caught on camera committing the offence when shouting instructions to team-mate Manolo Portanova during the 80th minute of the match.

Buffon, 42, has made six appearances in all competitions for Juve this season and has served as backup to Wojciech Szczesny since returning to Turin from Paris Saint-Germain in 2019.

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Mikel Arteta provided few assurances Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has a future at Arsenal after he was stripped of the club s captaincy.

Arteta left Aubameyang out of the squad for the 3-0 weekend defeat of Southampton, confirming afterwards that the Gabon international was dropped for disciplinary reasons.

Aubameyang was reported to have returned to the club late after being granted a trip abroad, though Arteta did not elaborate on what the striker was being punished for.

The club confirmed on Tuesday that Aubameyang has had the armband taken from him and he will not be in the squad to face West Ham on Wednesday, despite Arteta appearing to indicate at the weekend that he could be involved against the Hammers.

A few hours after Arsenal s announcement, Artet…

Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold labelled Mohamed Salah the best player in the world as he highlighted the forward s desire to break every record possible this season.

Salah matched Jamie Vardy s Premier League mark of scoring or assisting in 15 consecutive games after Diogo Jota had cancelled out Jonjo Shelvey s strike for Newcastle United on Thursday.

Indeed, Liverpool achieved a club-record 32nd game in a row across all competitions in which they have scored with Jota s first-half equaliser, while they also became the first side to 2,000 top-flight wins in English football after Alexander-Arnold s stunner ensured a 3-1 victory at Anfield.

Much of Alexander-Arnold s praise was directed towards Salah after the game, as he outlined the Egypt interna…