Chelsea vs. Manchester United: what Mourinho must do …

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho must
rally a fatigued and foundering team this weekend
as he rekindles an increasingly thorny rivalry with
his former club Chelsea, the Premier League leaders. United have drawn five of their last six home
games and go into Sunday’s Old Trafford
showdown on the back of a leggy 1-1 draw at
Anderlecht in the first leg of their Europa League
quarter-final. They are far from ideal conditions in which to be
preparing an ambush of the champions-elect, but
despite his protestations that it is “just one more
game”, Mourinho is likely to be highly motivated. Sacked by Chelsea midway through last season’s
car-crash title defence, he has had two deeply
unpleasant experiences on his two trips to
Stamford Bridge this season. In October, he saw United thrashed 4-0 and made
a public show of taking Chelsea manager Antonio
Conte to task over his touchline exhortations,
accusing the Italian of trying to “humiliate” him. February’s 1-0 FA Cup defeat was a closer affair,
but brought with it barracking from the fans who
had once sung his name. In response to their taunts of “Judas!”, he raised
three fingers — one for each of the Premier
League titles he won over his two spells as Chelsea
manager. “When they have somebody that wins four
Premier Leagues for them, I become number two,”
he said after. “Until this moment, ‘Judas’ is number
one.” Mourinho cannot have enjoyed watching the
players who seemed to down tools under him
thriving under Conte, as typified by the form of
Eden Hazard. Hazard, who played like a ghost under Mourinho
last season, will arrive at Old Trafford seeking to
reach the milestone of 15 goals in a league
campaign for the first time since he signed from
Lille in 2012. For his part, Conte has sought to play down any
suggestion of tension between himself and
Mourinho. “I have zero problems (with Mourinho),” he said.
“It’s only a sporting competition between him and
me. “There is a game of football. I want to try and win
with my team. He wants to try and win with his
team. It’s normal to be at conflict during the game,
but only a sporting conflict.” – Mata blow – While Chelsea are no longer the free-wheeling
team seen in the weeks before Christmas, having
gone nine league games without a clean sheet,
they boast a formidable record against United. They are unbeaten in the teams’ last 12
encounters, stretching back to a 3-2 home defeat
against a side managed by Alex Ferguson in
October 2012. Conte also has the luxury of being able to pick
from a full squad, after Victor Moses made his
return from a toe problem in last weekend’s 3-1
victory at Bournemouth. Life is nowhere near as rosy for Mourinho, who
must weigh his priorities ahead of Thursday’s
return leg against Anderlecht. David de Gea is expected to return in goal, having
missed United’s last two games with a hip problem. But Phil Jones (foot) and Chris Smalling (knee)
remain out and Juan Mata has been ruled out for
the rest of the season with a groin injury. United are four points off the Champions League
berths and have a game in hand on fourth-place
Manchester City. Winning the Europa League still looks their best
chance of Champions League qualification, but
Mourinho says they will not abandon the battle for
a top-four finish.