Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has warned his players that the club cannot afford to lose yet another match in the Premier League ahead of the big clash against Arsenal this Saturday.
Chelsea take on city rivals Arsenal in a crucial encounter on Saturday, 19th September. The defending champions are currently struggling at the bottom half of the table after the club lost 3 out of their 5 matches.
But, Chelsea have somehow managed to turn the odds in their favour after a crushing win over Maccabi Tel Aviv last night in the Champions League. The Blues were the only English side to win the opening tie.
Speaking ahead of the Arsenal game, Jose Mourinho said: “We come with a different feeling. We can wake up with a different state of mind.
“Saturday is a big match, it’s a great rival. This result can put us in a better situation.
“We had too many bad results. We couldn’t have this one on top of it.”
Mourinho further added: “Two years ago we lost against Basle, last year we drew against Schalke.
“In both situations (we were) under pressure to have to go away and recover points immediately.
“To win at home the first game is important. Porto and Dinamo one point each, so it was a good result for us.”
Jose Mourinho made several changes in the Chelsea lineup last night as he rested his key players. Oscar made a comeback into the starting lineup, while Diego Costa, John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic, Nemanja Matic were benched. 19-year-old Ruben Loftus-Cheek did a fabulous job in the defensive midfield role and it will be interesting to see Mourinho once again gives him a start ahead of Matic.
Loftus-Cheek himself sai: “I really enjoyed the occasion. I think we played some really good football and it’s a big lift for us going into the weekend.
“We had to win from the previous results. We had to give our best.
“We’ll take the confidence and hopefully carry it on into the weekend.”