Chelsea complacency may cost them in Manchester United clash

A stunning 4-0 win for Chelsea in October is the last time Mourinho’s men lost in the league and it made the Portuguese’s first return to his former club a day to forget.

“Manchester United, together (with City), has the best squad in the league”, Conte said.

The form United have shown since the Chelsea defeat reads just two defeats in 31 outings along with an additional spring in their step from winning the EFL Cup final a fortnight ago against Southampton. As you know, tonight we play the FA Cup quarter-finals against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

With no injury or suspension issues, Chelsea will be relishing United’s visit on Monday and while a repeat of the 4-0 hiding may be a little realistic, should they get a good start to the game, anything is possible. The last time we saw him was in the FA Cup win over Brentford.

“It will be tight, I think”. The likes of Ola Aina, Nathaniel Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have enjoyed opportunities in the FA Cup up until now, but may not see many more as Chelsea look to progress to the business end of the competition. They’ve played an astonishing 45 games already – most recently in Russian Federation on Thursday – have lifted the season’s first silverware when beating Southampton in the EFL Cup Final and remain fighting on three fronts.

“Of course they are confident so let’s go there and see what we can do”. Am I happier to win against Chelsea than another team? No. Their exploits in the Europa League last week, mixed with their Premier League schedule has left Jose Mourinho a frustrated figure.

Even so, Conte doesn’t anticipate an easy ride from a team with United’s strength in depth.

You can be sure that Mourinho is merely postponing hostilities until a later date, when he feels he has the resources to regain the upper hand, but right now, Conte is on top and he can rouse the crowd all he likes tonight because Stamford Bridge is his patch, not Mourinho’s.

“Not only great talent, but players who run a lot during a game”. We are not going to line up a weak team like other teams do. We must talk during the game on the pitch, not before.

Antonio Conte has responded to José Mourinho’s insinuations that Chelsea are a defensive team by offering an insight into his methods on the training ground and insisting that he is not a coach who focuses on counterattacking football.

Following the almost 5,000-mile round trip to Rostov, Mourinho could make as many as seven changes for the excursion to his former club Chelsea.