Mour wary of leaders
What you need to know:
Third-placed Londoners have played 0-0 draws at Man United and Arsenal but now travel to Fortress Etihad where the leaders have scored 42 in 11 matches
London- Jose Mourinho has amazingly claimed Manchester City could give his Chelsea side six of the best in Monday night’s title-race six-pointer.
Free-scoring Premier League leaders City have already put six past Arsenal and Tottenham on their own patch, netting 42 goals in 11 home games to ensure a 100 per cent home record.
It leaves Chelsea, three points behind them in third place, with a daunting task at the Etihad - and their manager Mourinho claiming opposite number Manuel Pellegrini’s men are on a different level to every other team in the top flight.
“For how many months have I said the same thing? - one team is an end product. The other is a team trying to build. For me, it’s not a surprise,” said the Special One.
“We go there next Monday and the result at this moment is 0-0. Are they favourites? Yes. Are they favourites to score, again, four, five, six goals? Yes. But it’s 0-0 now, and we go there to compete.”
City replaced Arsenal at the top of the table with Wednesday’s 5-1 win at Tottenham, which made it 68 goals in 23 league matches so far this season.
They look an unstoppable force, but Mourinho is renowned for sending out teams that are well organised and hard to beat.
And after he branded West Ham’s tactics in securing a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday 19th century football, there was also an assurance from the Portuguese that the west Londoners won’t try to do the same on Monday night.
Mourinho is a master of the dark arts of time wasting, fouls and wind-ups, but his England defender Gary Cahill insists Chelsea can go to the Etihad and win - and have no intention of trying to shut up shop.
Chelsea have yet to lose to any of the top four teams yet and frustrated Arsenal and Manchester United away from home in a pair of goalless draws.
Cahill said: “We need to try to get a positive result on Monday, knowing how difficult it’s going to be. They just put another five in. They are banging goals in left, right and centre at the minute.”
