THIERRY HENRY admits Chelsea are “cruising” in the Barclays Premiership, but the French striker believes Arsenal’s gifted young newcomers could help throw their title rivals off-course.

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MANCHESTER UNITED will rally round Juan Sebastian Veron in the hope of bringing the best out of the Argentine midfielder next season, manager Alex Ferguson said yesterday.

JULIEN ESCUDE’S future remains in the balance after talks between his club Rennes and Manchester United officials stalled in Paris yesterday.

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CAPTAIN David Beckham declared the England squad are united behind Sven-Goran Eriksson and still believe they can top their Euro 2004 qualifying group.

Gianluigi Buffon’s agent, Silvano Martina, yesterday dismissed claims the Italian goalkeeper is heading to Old Trafford, claiming Real Madrid are the only club who could convince his client to leave Juventus.

GARY NEVILLE congratulated his Manchester United team-mates on their second successive three-goal Premiership win – and then told them Chelsea and Arsenal would not start to notice until they gave someone a real hammering.

DENNIS BERGKAMP believes that the weight of history will spur Arsenal towards a second consecutive Premiership title.

FOR a man accustomed to the glint of silver, the Carling Cup is not a trophy to get overly excited about. Except this year is different for Alex Ferguson.

JOSE MOURINHO has targeted Chelsea’s November 6 encounter with high-flying Everton as the day Arjen Robben will return to lift the Blues out of their striking crisis.

MANCHESTER UNITED skipper Roy Keane has admitted he would travel to the moon to get his hands on a Champions League winners medal.

BRAZIL goalkeeper Marcos is poised to agree terms with Arsenal on a deal that could spell the end of David Seaman’s top-flight career — and has insisted the England player was blameless for his World Cup mishap.

EMINEM is top of the league for kick-starting Premiership soccer teams, a survey has found.

SWISS manager Köbi Kuhn has voiced concern that several players are lacking match practice ahead of Saturday’s crucial Group 10 showdown against the Republic of Ireland in Basel.

ENGLAND hopeful Alan Smith claims Paul Scholes’ decision to quit the international scene can only be good news for Manchester United.

Premier League chiefs are to study whether rising ticket prices and television coverage have contributed to an apparent slump in top-flight attendances at a special meeting next month.

PARIS ST GERMAIN have turned down an offer from Manchester United for Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldinho, but the player’s agent is confident the two clubs can still negotiate an agreement.

ARSENAL must face either a Spanish giant like Barcelona, Valencia or European Cup holders Real Madrid at the next stage of the Champions League, or else one of the Italian aces such as AC Milan, Inter and Juventus.