Jose Mourinho is up to his old tricks again as Chelsea seek an early advantage over Manchester United
Mourinho is hoping to move Aston Villa game forward in hope of leaving Old Trafford with a six-point lead over Premier League rivals
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jose Mourinho is known for knowing a trick of two in the old mind-games department, but this latest quest could be quite the cunning plan from ‘The Special One’.
With Chelsea set to meet Bayern Munich in the European Super Cup in Prague on August 30, their weekend Premier League fixture against Aston Villa will have to be rescheduled in order to accommodate the 2012 Champions League final rematch.
But instead of moving it further into the season once the Champions League group stages and Cup knockout rounds are underway, Mourinho is asking for the game to be brought forward to August 21.
Mourinho is well aware that should the Blues earn victories against Hull on the opening weekend and Villa if the game is brought forward, Chelsea could open up a six-point lead over Manchester United if they beat the Premier League champions at Old Trafford on August 26.
This would give the Blues an early psychological advantage with the new season just over a week old, and it’s something that former United right-back Gary Neville has his concerns about.
“In those Mourinho years, we’d fall too far behind to mount a challenge,” Neville admitted recently. “You don’t want to fall too far behind a Mourinho team. They have the nerve inside the club to withstand the pressure.”
Villa boss Paul Lambert may prefer to delay the game, with his side already set to meet Arsenal and Liverpool in the opening games of their campaign, though the Premier League are likely to prefer an earlier fixture, as they did last season when Chelsea moved their clash with Reading to a similar slot that Mourinho is after.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments