Jose Mourinho claimed Chelsea's players have had it easy this season compared to his exhausted Manchester United squad.

United have played 52 games this season, their EFL Cup win and ongoing Europa League campaign taking a gruelling toll on Mourinho's men.

Chelsea have played just 38 games, their non-involvement in Europe helping them to march to the brink of the title in Antonio Conte's first season in charge.

Fifth-placed United, who host Chelsea on Sunday, trail the Premier League leaders by 18 points and are still not certain of securing a top-four place.

But Mourinho said no fair comparisons can be made between his United side and his former club because of the fixture disparity between them, which he blamed for the current gulf in points.

Paul Pogba looks dejected against Anderlecht (
Image:
REUTERS)
Chelsea are romping to the title (
Image:
AFP)

“First of all, some guys are fresh, some guys are tired,” said Mourinho. “That’s very important in football.

“But, for some reason, they are top of the league. It’s not just because they are fresh.

“It’s also because they have individual quality and they have collective quality.

“They have a certain style of play, they stick to it, they do it very well.

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“Not every team defends with 11 players, and they defend with 11 players.

“Not every team is so objective in their counter-attacks.

“They are very objective in the counter-attack and they have individual players out of the context of the game that can also resolve the problems.

“So they are a very strong team.”

Manchester United's Zlatan Ibrahimovic looks dejected (
Image:
REUTERS)
Manchester United's Michael Carrick looks dejected (
Image:
REUTERS)

Mourinho also said he will not allow emotion to cloud his judgment on Sunday, after tensions spilled over on his last two meetings with his old club.

The United boss clashed with Conte back in October when the Special One was on the receiving end of a 4-0 humiliation at his former club.

Mourinho took exception to Conte's over-zealous celebrations on the touchline at 4-0 and had words with his opposite number at the end.

And last month, when United lost 1-0 at Chelsea in the FA Cup, Mourinho was taunted throughout by Blues fans who branded their old boss a 'Judas'.

Mourinho and Conte on the touchline (
Image:
PA)
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte and players celebrate (
Image:
PA)

Mourinho responded with a three-fingered gesture to those vengeful Chelsea fans, to indicate the number of titles he had won for them.

But ahead of his latest meeting with the club where he won three titles, one FA Cup and three League Cups, Mourinho said emotion will not play a part.

“You say that word emotion,” said Mourinho. “For me, it's just a game. One more game. No difference for me, not at all.”

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