Jose Mourinho plays the mind games ahead of Tottenham’s top of the table clash with Liverpool by saying Jurgen Klopp has worked with his team for precisely 1,894 days… and claims Virgil van Dijk is their only ‘big injury’
- Table-topping Tottenham head to second-placed Liverpool on Wednesday
- Spurs manager Jose Mourinho was on fine form in Tuesday’s press briefing
- He played down Liverpool’s injury pile-up saying they had one ‘big injury’
- Mourinho had also worked out Jurgen Klopp had spent 1,894 days in charge
- He compared this to his 390 days at the helm of Spurs after arriving last year
Jose Mourinho has deployed the mind games ahead of Tottenham’s visit to Liverpool, comparing the exact number of days Jurgen Klopp has been in charge at Anfield to his own tenure.
The Spurs boss also claimed Liverpool have just one ‘big injury’ – that of defender Virgil van Dijk.
Mourinho was in fine form as he spoke ahead of Wednesday night’s top of the table encounter on Merseyside, with his team ahead of the reigning champions on goal difference alone.
Jose Mourinho was in fine form ahead of Tottenham’s top of the table visit to Liverpool
Harry Kane (left) scored for Spurs at Crystal Palace on Sunday but they settled for a 1-1 draw
Tottenham are currently top of the table from Liverpool on goal difference alone
He said: ‘Liverpool is the result of – if I’m not wrong – 1,894 days of work with Jurgen. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong by a few days.
‘We’re the result of work of 390 days but these 390 days are fake.’
Klopp was appointed Liverpool manager on October 8, 2015, which would equate to 1,896 days if Tuesday is included.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp has complained about a lengthy injury list, but Mourinho has downplayed the significance of it.
He said: ‘I think Alisson is not injured. (Trent) Alexander-Arnold is not injured. (Joel) Matip, I believe that he’s going to play. Fabinho is not injured, (Andrew) Robertson is not injured, (Jordan) Henderson is not injured, (Georginio) Wijnaldum is not injured, (Mohamed) Salah is not injured, (Roberto) Firmino is not injured, (Sadio) Mane is not injured.
‘(Virgil) Van Dijk is injured and Van Dijk is a very good player of course. But give me Liverpool list of injuries and compared that list with what is the best Liverpool team.
Mourinho claimed Virgil Van Dijk was Liverpool’s only ‘big injury’ affecting the first team
‘I can give you a list of 10 injuries at Tottenham. We have two kids of the under-16s with injuries, we have two others in the under-21s and two in the under-23s. We have (Erik) Lamela and (Japhet) Tanganga.
‘And here is a list of 10 players. But is (Hugo) Lloris injured? No. (Toby) Alderweireld injured? No. (Eric) Dier injured? No. (Sergio) Reguilon injured no? Harry Kane injured? No. (Heung-min) Son injured? No. Lucas (Moura) injured? No.
‘So where are the injuries? Injuries are normal. James Milner is injured, Lamela is injured. You know. Every club has injuries now and again. Liverpool has a big injury. Which is Van Dijk.’
Mourinho also hinted that Gareth Bale will not be well enough to be part of the squad heading to Anfield on Wednesday evening.
The Wales international missed Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace due to illness and he has not yet trained with the team since.
Mourinho didn’t believe Gareth Bale would be well enough to feature in the Liverpool game
‘We still have a training session this afternoon,’ Mourinho said.
‘Yesterday he didn’t train with the team. He trained inside, not even outside. In this moment I’d say not [to playing on Wednesday] but let’s wait for the feelings and let’s see the training session.