Jose Mourinho says Tottenham are title contenders

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes Tottenham are a "big contender" for the Premier League title, claiming they are one of six possible champions.

The Portuguese, 50, insists the title race is more open than during his first spell as Blues boss between 2004 and 2007. 

“Tottenham are a big contender. They have bought players with quality,” he said ahead of Saturday’s trip to Spurs.

This is the customary nonsense that we get from managers on the eve of a game between a top four team and a team that are trying to break into that elite group.

There’s always the they are 'genuine' contenders and blah, blah, blah, the only reason Mourinho is saying this and not saying the obvious, that Tottenham have zero chance of winning the title, is so that he doesn’t do his protégé’s job for him and give any extra motivation to the opposition.

Tottenham will certainly be challenging for a top four place, but to suggest they could challenge for the title is a little far-fetched; they don’t have enough strength in depth and don’t have enough options up front.

While it’s easy to say now that any one of six can win the title by Christmas that number will have dropped to two City and Chelsea.

Those two will finish 1^st and 2^nd then it’s a fight between Arsenal and United for 3^rd with Liverpool and Tottenham fighting it out for 4^th.

I do wish managers wouldn’t make these silly declarations at the starts of seasons because they never come to fruition, they always say oh it’s the most open title race for years but come April/May it’s always been whittled down to the same two or three teams.