Next Manchester United manager: Mauricio Pochettino favourite to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

The former Tottenham manager is thought to be high up the list of preferred candidates at Old Trafford should Solskjaer fail to turn the side’s form around

Mauricio Pochettino was speaking on Sky Sports (Sky Sports)

Mauricio Pochettino has emerged as the clear favourite to become the successor to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should Manchester United opt to move on from the Norwegian.

After two alarming defeats in just three days to Arsenal and Istanbul Basaksehir, speculation has begun over whether United are preparing to make a difficult decision.

Solskjaer’s results have resembled a rollercoaster this season, with United reacting impressively to a damaging 6-1 home defeat to predecessor Jose Mourinho's Tottenham in October.

Victories over PSG and RB Leipzig in Europe provided the perfect response to Solskjaer’s detractors, but that good work has now been undone over the last week, with the club stuck in 15th on seven points, already nine behind leaders Liverpool and six off the top four.

Solskjaer himself is remaining calm though, at least on the outside, insisting he will not “fall like a house of cards”.

Solskjaer said when asked if he was still confident of being a success at Old Trafford: "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?

"If I don't trust my beliefs and values and my staff's quality and the players' quality, who else should?

"I don't look at one or two results and fall like a house of cards. But, yeah, setback definitely.

"I think there's been too much made of, say, not scoring against Arsenal and Chelsea because there's been more-or-less nothing in those two games.

"It's not too long ago we were the best thing since sliced bread when you beat Leipzig and PSG, so there's ups and downs in football and that's just the way it has to be.

"You've got to have that belief in yourself, belief in the players.

"The club has been very positive. They've shown me their character and the strong leadership, so I'm looking to Saturday lunchtime kick-off, which is another matter."

Odds for next permanent Manchester United manager

Source: Betfair

• Mauricio Pochettino: 3/10
• Massimiliano Allegri: 15/2
• Ralph Hasenhuttl: 9/1
• Brendan Rodgers: 14/1
• Julian Nagelsmann: 25/1
• Thomas Tuchel: 25/1
• Pep Guardiola: 33/1
• Laurent Blanc: 33/1
• Luis Enrique: 33/1
• Rafa Benitez: 33/1
• Erik ten Hag: 33/1
• Chris Wilder: 33/1
• Arsene Wenger 33/1
• Ralph Ragnick: 33/1
• Gareth Southgate: 33/1
• Michael Carrick: 33/1
• Eddie Howe: 40/1
• Nuno Espirito Santo: 40/1
• Nicky Butt: 40/1
• Zinedine Zidane: 40/1
• Marcelo Bielsa: 40/1
• Joachim Low: 50/1
• Didier Deschamps: 50/1
• Diego Simeone: 50/1
• Antonio Conte: 50/1
• Jose Mourinho: 50/1
• Ernesto Valverde: 66/1
• Paulo Fonseca: 66/1
• Daniel Farke: 66/1
• Roy Keane: 66/1
• Jurgen Klopp: 100/1
• Mikel Arteta: 100/1

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