Jose's five-point preview - Sheffield United

Jose Mourinho looks ahead to our Premier League clash at Sheffield United on Sunday (2pm).

1 - Team news

Jose gave us the latest on the squad ahead of the trip to Bramall Lane...

Jose: "Gio (Lo Celso) will be out for a little while. We have two training sessions before the game, but there are no more problems. Steven (Bergwijn) was ill the week before, the week of Marine, and then he trained with the team one day last week, the day before we played Fulham. It was not a muscular injury, not that, he was ill.”

2 - State of play

Naturally disappointed with the draw against Fulham this week, nevertheless, we’ve had just two defeats in our last 18 matches in all competitions - how did Jose gauge the mood at the moment?

Jose: “I have to be the first one to never be happy. I have to be the first one to always want more and more and more. Yes, two defeats in 18, but that could be one instead of two, and could be more victories instead of as many draws as we have. The difference between one draw and one victory is two points, and the difference between one point and three points in the majority of the cases is also a small, big detail. That small, big detail is the goal that kills the match, or a defensive mistake that allows the opponent to take a point and be happy with that. We could be better.”

3 - Leading question

Jose was asked in his press conference what we needed to change to go on and win the games we’ve drawn from winning positions...

Jose: “We need to score the goals we can, and not to make mistakes that punish us. If you compare Hugo’s (Lloris) performance to (Alphonse) Areola’s (against Fulham), you have an answer. Areola made a couple of impossible saves that would kill the match, also we hit the post. Then, a defensive mistake and a goal. That’s it. It looks complicated but it’s simple, basic analysing of the game.”

4 - Blades - part one

Jose told us after Fulham not to look at Sheffield United as a team at the bottom of the league - so what does he expect from the Blades on Sunday?

Jose: “If you look to the table it’s one thing, but if you look to them, to the team, to the performances, it’s a completely different story. Many, many times tables don’t reflect what the teams are, and in this case, for sure, it doesn’t reflect what the team is. Even their results... I don’t think there are many matches where they clearly lost. In the majority of their matches it was 0-1, 1-2. They are a team who play the way they did last season, with the same principles, the same threat they were. I don’t see many differences. Of course, the table is a huge difference in position with the number of points, but they are a very difficult team.”

5 - Blades - part two

Jose was later asked in his press conference how he would compare the Sheffield United of last season with the Sheffield United of this season...

Jose: “The same. They are not the worst team in the Premier League, at all. They are much, much better than what the table says. If you analyse their matches, many times their opponent wasn’t better than them, and many times it was one of those small, big details that decides the score, the points and the table.”