Jose Mourinho reveals how he knew Chelsea formation detail a day early

Jose Mourinho was at his mischievous best in his pre-match press conference yesterday ahead of the London derby against Chelsea today.

It was a tasty fixture on paper, as Tottenham had the chance to go above their rivals in the Premier League table with a win.

This would have been the first time that Mourinho’s Spurs had entered the top four and Champions League places this season.

However, the Lilywhites were dominated for the vast majority of the match by a rampant Chelsea, who scored within the first 15 minutes via Olivier Giroud.

Marcos Alonso made it two just after half-time, and a late deflected Erik Lamela cross that ended up in the net was not enough to see Spurs earn a point.

While Mourinho got his tactics wrong for the match, one thing he did get right was his Chelsea formation prediction.

He claimed to know 24 hours ahead of time that Frank Lampard would play a back five with three central defenders (Daily Mail).

Asked how he knew after the game, Mourinho replied (Football London): “I guessed because there is a logic to it. When they have a run of bad results, they go to five, when they have a run of bad results they go to (Marcos) Alonso and that’s what they did when they played against Lille and against us in the first match.

“That’s what of course I knew they were going to do today again.

“It’s obvious. When they’re in a run of good results, they go to different players. When they are in trouble, five at the back and Alonso. No one leaked me anything. They are loyal to him.”

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