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Pointless Palace aiming for fast start under Roy

ROY HODGSON is confident his new Crystal Palace side will stay in the Premier League but if the betting is any guide it could be a rough start who returns home having been part of the Selhurst Park youth ranks in the 1960s.

“I believe the team will stay up – absolutely,” said Hodgson with pointless Palace 5-4 to be relegated and 4-6 to stay up.

Palace are underdogs against Southampton and then face trips to Manchester City and Manchester United before a home clash with Chelsea which is a tough opening run for Hodgson.

Bet365 offer 8-11 that the Eagles don’t win any of their next four matches, although maybe just a goal would be nice.

It’s 4-9 with Coral that Palace finally score but more blanks can be backed at 15-8 with Betfair. Hodgson is 16-1 with bet365 to match the sacked Frank de Boer’s  record of no goals in his opening four league matches.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho was coy on how long he expected midfielder Paul Pogba to be sat on the sidelines following his hamstring injury against Basel  in the Champions League on Tuesday.

“I don’t know how many games, but we are going to play without Pogba for a few matches,” said Mourinho. Reports had previously suggested Pogba could miss the next six weeks.

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