Mourinho insisting the struggling Premier League
champions are not short of confidence.
Jose Mourinho saw his beleaguered Chelsea side lose again in
midweek - but the Portuguese insists his players will be ready
for the visit of Liverpool on Saturday.
Premier League champions Chelsea have endured a nightmare
start to the season and relinquished their grip on the League
Cup - which they won in March - with a fourth-round penalty-
shootout defeat at Stoke City on Tuesday.
Mourinho's side, who sit 15th in the Premier League, have won
just one of their last seven games in all competitions and
reports suggest that a loss to Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool could
spell the end of the Portuguese's second reign at Stamford
Bridge.
However, while admitting that lifting his squad for the weekend
will be tough, Mourinho feels Chelsea's stars can take heart
from their performance at the Britannia Stadium.
"It's difficult - but it's more difficult when you play very badly
and lose, than playing well and losing," the former Real Madrid
boss said.
"They go home with sadness but with a positive feeling. How
can [Eden] Hazard, or Oscar, or [John-Obi] Mikel, or John Terry,
to say some names - I could say everyone - how can they go
home with a lack of confidence?
"They played well, they didn't make many mistakes. They
participated in the game a lot."
By contrast, Mourinho's opposite number Klopp heads into
Saturday's match riding the crest of the wave of positivity
surrounding his appointment at Anfield.
Klopp oversaw his first win in charge of Liverpool on
Wednesday - a 1-0 League Cup victory over AFC Bournemouth -
following three successive draws since replacing Brendan
Rodgers.
And the German was thrilled to finally get off the mark.
"I feel much better than after a draw," Klopp said. "But I don't
think the other games were so much worse than today - of
course, the result is the biggest difference and we did well
tonight.
"I saw minute by minute we were better in the game, we closed
the spaces better and the whole 90 minutes we played football
and created our chances.
"We didn't have any real experience together, so I'm really
satisfied - the boys did really well."
Christian Benteke missed the Bournemouth tie with a knee
issue, but Klopp expects the Belgian - who came off the bench
to score the opener in Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Southampton
last week - to be fit for Saturday.
Daniel Sturridge continues to struggle with a knee injury of his
own and remains doubtful, but James Milner is available after
suspension.
Mourinho also faces a headache up front, with Diego Costa
suffering a rib injury at Stoke, leaving the Spain frontman's
status for the weekend in question.
Branislav Ivanovic (hamstring) is likely to miss out for Chelsea,
while Pedro (knock) is also a doubt.
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