Don’t worry about City’s pursuit, Mourinho tells buoyant Chelsea
CHELSEA manager Jose Mourinho insists his team should revel in their early-season dominance rather than worry about being pursued by defending Premier League champions Manchester City.
City trimmed Chelsea’s top-flight lead to six points at the weekend and could cut it even further tonight when they visit Sunderland and the Blues host Tottenham.
“What do you want the team to do or to feel when a team is doing a perfect season?” Mourinho said.
“Top of the Premier League. Top of the group in the Champions League. Quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup. Not losing one match for four months. The team has to feel very, very well. And, when the defeat arrives, I think we have to feel exactly in the same way.”
Chelsea have not lost at home to Tottenham for 24 years but are without leading scorer Diego Costa through suspension, while Spurs looked much improved in beating Everton on Sunday.
“We don’t speak about Diego,” added Mourinho, who will choose between Didier Drogba and Loic Remy to lead the line. “Forget Diego, we trust the other two and we go with the other two.”
City manager Manuel Pellegrini could be without captain Vincent Kompany at the Stadium of Light but believes his team have proven their critics were wrong to write off their Premier League defence.
“We were never out of the fight for the title,” he said. “We have to play a lot more games and there are too many points to play for.”