Jose Mourinho insists he has ‘no insider knowledge yet’ about Chelsea ahead of Tottenham’s top of the table clash with the Blues after claiming a ‘source’ had leaked Frank Lampard’s line-up last season
- Jose Mourinho said he knows nothing of Frank Lampard’s tactics this time round
- In February Mourinho claimed a Chelsea ‘source’ gave him Lampard’s line up
- League leaders Tottenham Hotspur play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday
- Mourinho said he is focused on winning and not on second-place Liverpool
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho says he has no inside information from his infamous Chelsea source about Frank Lampard’s tactics ahead of the London derby this weekend.
In a classic example of Mourinho mind games in February last season, the Portuguese claimed that a ‘source’ at the Blues had given him knowledge of Lampard’s team selection.
Indeed, Lampard himself said Mourinho ‘has probably some connections at our training ground’ before the game.
Jose Mourinho has no insider knowledge about Chelsea ahead of Spurs’ clash with the Blues
Mourinho said in February that a Chelsea source gave him details of Lampard’s team selection
Spurs went on to lose the match 2-1, but returning to west London on Sunday for the first time since that encounter, Mourinho was more circumspect about his source when asked if he had any more trade secrets this time round.
‘Not yet, and probably not,’ he said. ‘But with such an amazing squad, you know, to play [Reece] James or [Cesar] Azpilicueta, to play [Ben] Chilwell, [Marcos] Alonso or Emerson.
‘To play [Edouard] Mendy, or to play the most expensive goalkeeper of the history of the Premier League.
Tottenham Hotspur went on to lose the February game against Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge
‘Chelsea has an amazing squad, so I’m not even worried about who is going to play because they only have very good players.’
Mourinho also insisted he is not at all concerned by the fact that Liverpool may have supplanted Spurs at the top of the table by kick-off at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
‘Maybe we don’t go top of the league there, maybe Liverpool gets a point or a victory at Brighton, and then we don’t go there top of the league so I don’t even know,’ he said.
‘But going there top of the league or going there with Liverpool top of the league doesn’t change anything for us.
Mourinho said Chelsea have ‘an amazing squad’ with ‘only very good players’ to choose from
‘We are always contenders to win the next match, nothing more than that. So, we are going to be there and there are three possible results.
‘We are in football for a long time. We know of course that anything can happen. But we go there and our objective is to win the game.’
The match has all the hallmarks of a thrilling encounter, with Spurs sitting top of the Premier League and Chelsea chasing hard at their heels, two points behind in third.
It also pits the league’s strongest attack – Chelsea are the leading scorers with 22 goals – against its tightest defence. Spurs have conceded nine goals this season, the least of all clubs.
