Jose Mourinho still insisting City are favourites

Chelsea manager calls for an end to horse comparisons and opts instead for car analogies

Chelsea manager   Jose Mourinho still playing down his side’s title chances. Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/EPA
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho still playing down his side’s title chances. Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/EPA

Manchester City are still favourites to win the Premier League and are the "Jaguar" car in the title race, according to Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.

Despite watching his side move to the top of the table with a 3-0 home win over Newcastle United on Saturday, Mourinho said Chelsea's only aim was to qualify for the Champions League.

The Portugese manager also said it was time to stop comparing the race for the title to horses, instead opting for a car metaphor in which he inferred his team are still learner drivers.

“It’s time to kill (talk of) the horses,” Mourinho, who described his team as a “little horse” in the title race after beating City on Monday, told the BBC.

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“Manchester City is a Jaguar. You cannot put an L-plate behind a Jaguar. We are what we are and we know where we want to go and this season we only have one objective, which is to finish top four.”

Arsenal's 5-1 thrashing at Liverpool and City's 0-0 draw at Norwich City on Saturday left Chelsea a point clear at the top but Mourinho again played down his team's chances of being crowned Premier League champions for the first time since 2010.

“We are happy with what we are doing and at this moment in time we are top,” he said. “That is great, but we want to play well and improve and that is it.

“I want to secure a Champions League position and the further we are from fifth place, then we can begin to think about other things. For now, my concern is increasing the gap between ourselves and fifth.”

Chelsea host fifth-placed Everton on February 22nd but first travel to West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Tuesday and visit Manchester City in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday.