Mourinho: Not the time for Manchester United to play catch-up

Jose Mourinho admits Manchester United are currently in a holding pattern as they bid to keep up with the Premier League’s pacesetters.

It was hardly a match for the ages at Anfield on Monday night as United frustrated Liverpool for large parts of the second half to emerge from Merseyside with a draw.

The Premier League table does not make for pretty reading however, as Mourinho’s men – who were widely expected to compete for the title after a busy summer in the transfer market – currently sit five points adrift of the top.

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They face a tough task away to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this Sunday and Mourinho has hinted he would be happy with another draw against his former employers.

“We have a very difficult week, playing these two matches in the Premier League against two of the big candidates,” he said. “This is not the week where we were expecting to close the distances to the top of the league.

“This is the week we have to keep contact with them because then we will arrive at the moment where we win three, four or five matches in a row and we will be there fighting with almost everybody for the title.”