Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho doesn’t think his Manchester United successor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will use his 6-1 defeat in the October second leg as a source of motivation for Sunday’s meeting.
Thanks to a good attack performance and a defensive horror show when Mourinho’s men got into turmoil, Spurs was able to make up for the worst defeat in the Premier League at Old Trafford.
That defeat was a wake-up call for Solskjaer’s side as they launched their campaign and are now prepared to finish second behind local rivals Manchester City.
Solskjaer called that afternoon his most embarrassing in football, but Mourinho doubts that will feed into his pre-game deliberations when United visits Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
“I think 6: 1 doesn’t reflect reality. It can happen. Of course, between sizes, it can happen that the results are achieved in isolation, ”said Mourinho.
“I’m going much more towards the other two previous games between us and United. We lost 2-1 with a penalty at Old Trafford and drew 1-1 at home last season, also with a penalty. I think that’s more of a reality.
“We’re not far from each other so I think it’s going to be a difficult game for both of them.
Harry Kane scored twice when Spurs experienced a rare successful outing at Old Trafford (Oli Scarff / PA).
“I don’t know whether Solskjaer will use this result. If it were the opposite. If my team lost 6-1 to them, I would just tell my guys that it happened once and it won’t happen twice. This does not reflect reality.
“The game will be close and we can win, but I don’t know, maybe Solskjaer has other things.”
Mourinho’s side are hoping to end United’s impressive 22-game record unbeaten to keep their top 4 hopes alive.
“I’m only going to comment on the recording to say congratulations on the recording,” said the former United boss.
Preparation for Man Utd TH TH # THFC ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/BUDVkfoX8Q
– Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 8, 2021
“We’ll try to win the match. It’s the only thing I can say
“It’s very difficult for many reasons, but this record won’t stop us from believing we can win and it won’t stop us from fighting for victory.
“At the end of the game the result may be different and the record may get better, but it is not the record that keeps us from going into the game believing we can win it.”
Spurs are out of the game without Matt Doherty (muscle) while Ben Davies is out with an ankle problem.
