Big Refereeing Decisions Leave Mourinho Feeling 'Unlucky' Ahead of Goodison Park Visit

In the build-up to their trip to face Everton on New Year's Day, José Mourinho has claimed that only "biased" people can think Manchester United didn't have big decisions against City, Southampton and Leicester go against them.

The Portuguese manager, who is under pressure to start turning United's fortunes around this season, will be without star striker Romelu Lukaku at Goodison Park after the Belgian suffered a head injury against Southampton.

However, the performance of the referee, Andre Marriner, could be Mourinho's biggest concern against Everton.

"I feel unlucky," Mourinho said ahead of United's trip to Goodison Park, as quoted by Sky Sports. "But unlucky in football you have to change, which is what we try to do.

"When I speak about three big decisions, penalties in matches where a penalty, and a possible goal, makes a huge difference, I want to say unlucky because it is what I feel.

"I could be here now with a bias theory, which I'm not going [to do] at all, because honestly I'm happy with the referees' performances in these matches, and [they] were just unlucky decisions.

"You have to be biased against us to say the penalty against City, against Leicester and against Southampton were not penalties."

United's draw against Southampton, coupled with Chelsea's convincing win over a weak Stoke City side, has seen the Blues leapfrog the Red Devils in the Premier League table. 

Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Burnley are all within 10 points of Mourinho's side, with United desperate to see their fortunes turn sooner rather than later.