Jose Mourinho Questions 'Lack of Credit' From Critics for Man Utd Over Spurs Shut Out

Jose Mourinho has queried why Manchester United were not showered with praise for keeping free-scoring Tottenham Hotspur at bay in their Premier League clash.

Spurs have put Liverpool and Real Madrid to the sword in recent fixtures with 4-1 and 3-1 victories respectively, but failed to find the back of the net against United last Saturday as they fell to a 1-0 defeat.

In his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's huge clash with Chelsea, Mourinho asked the assembled press (h/t The Guardian) why his Red Devils stars weren't lauded for managing to keep Mauricio Pochettino's side out in a similar fashion to the praise they've had lavished on them for their goalscoring displays.

He remarked: “It is a different way of analysing things for this reason or that reason. 

“Similar performances for some clubs are magic, are examples of brilliant tactics and amazing attitude but from other players and other teams the same kind of performance becomes conservative, becomes negative, becomes so many adjectives. 

"Just as an example, Tottenham beat Liverpool 4-1, Tottenham beat Real Madrid 3-1 and Tottenham didn’t score against Manchester United so my players deserve at least a little bit of credit.”

Mourinho takes his team to Stamford Bridge for a showdown with former club Chelsea ahead of the November international break still smarting from last season's 4-0 thumping at the hand of Antonio Conte's men.

The Portuguese gaffer added that he expected to be "forgotten about" in time as Chelsea boss - something that many people won't agree with given how he led the Blues to trophy success during his two stints in west London.

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Mourinho said: “I played there with Inter and twice with Manchester United. I have to admit it is a little bit different but in the end I want to win like I did with Inter. 

"They want to win like they did last season. It is just one more day and in a couple of years it will be even more natural and in four or five years probably no one will remember I was Chelsea manager and it will become absolutely normal. 

"It is a big match but not because of that, but because they are champions and we are Manchester United.”