• Premier League

Chelsea form concerns Mourinho

Jose Mourinho fears a first defeat to Arsene Wenger ahead of Chelsea's visit to Arsenal on Monday.

Mourinho has won five and drawn four of nine meetings with Wenger in the Premier League.

However, a shock midweek defeat to Sunderland in the League Cup further highlighted the Blues frailty on the road. Five of the six Premier League games in which Chelsea have dropped points this season have come away from Stamford Bridge.

That form is not confined to the Blues' domestic campaign either, with home and away defeats to Basel in the Champions League leaving Mourinho cautious ahead of the top-of-the-table encounter.

"Every time we miss a chance and the score is 0-0, 1-0, 2-1, 1-1, I feel the pressure," Mourinho told Chelsea TV following the extra-time loss at Sunderland.

"I feel that missing the chances, maybe later you are punished. We have this problem. We were poor against Basel [but] in every match we lost in England, in the Premier League and in the cup [at Sunderland], we were the best team by far.

"We were always very comfortable on the pitch, we had unbelievable chances to score to kill the game.

"We don't do it. Late goals are a consequence of a team that doesn't kill an opponent. If you score two, three goals the opponent is dead and the opponent has no reaction."

Meanwhile, Mourinho also confirmed that Ashley Cole will start on the bench for the trip to former club Arsenal.

Chelsea could go top of the Premier League table with a win against the club where Cole won two league titles and three FA Cups but he has struggled to regain his place in the team after recovering from injury, with Mourinho preferring Cesar Azpilicueta.

The defender reportedly attended Arsenal's Christmas party earlier this week, but Mourinho insists that the decision to continue his absence is purely to do with football.

The Portuguese said: "I have my opinion [on him attending the party], but I keep [it to] myself. It was a free day for them, so I'm not a father, I'm a manager, and I can't control what they do when they are not with me.

"From the beginning Ashley's not playing, [but] today is Friday, the game is Monday.

"Something can happen in between. I play Ivanovic right-back, I play Azpilicueta left-back. I play John Terry and I have to choose between [Gary] Cahill and David Luiz."

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