Jose Mourinho starts mind games ahead of Chelsea tie in FA Cup

One of the overriding themes of Jose Mourinho’s reaction to playing Chelsea in the FA Cup was that of a fixture pile up.

The Manchester United boss made it clear he feels Chelsea have very little to worry about head of the tie, given they’re basically Champions, whereas his side have to fight on four fronts.

He said: “No reaction.

“I have to play Saint-Etienne, I have to play the EFL Cup final, I have to play hopefully another opponent in the Europa League.

“I have to fight for a top-four position in the Premier League. I have so many things to think about.

“Chelsea can only think about that [the FA Cup] because they are champions and they have nothing else to fight for.

“The match is in one month’s time, so I don’t want to think about it.

“We’re going to fight for the FA Cup, but the League Cup is the one we have a 50 per cent possibility to win.

“And the next one is to get a result against St Etienne on Wednesday and be in the last 16 of the Europa League.”

A key partnership

One of the key partnerships United have is between Pogba and Ibrahimovic and the duo will expect to start against Chelsea rather than sit on the bench.

After the humiliation at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season, you’d expect United and Mourinho to go all out to win – and secure another cup semi final this season.