With their 4-0 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday Chelsea claimed a seventh clean sheet in their past 10 league matches and extended their advantage over Mourinho’s title pick Manchester City to nine points, although the 2012 champions have three games in hand.
Goalkeeper Petr Cech, Branislav Ivanovic, Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill and captain John Terry are established as Mourinho’s favoured back four, much to the Portuguese’s satisfaction. Azpilicueta, who has displaced Ashley Cole at left-back, received particular praise.
“We know that to win matches you need to score more goals than the opponent, but one of the ways you have to score more is if you don’t concede,” said Mourinho, whose strikers have been much derided this term. “We work, we prepare matches, we analyse opponents. You try to find the best balance.
“Defensively you try to make a shape, you try to find a balance. I like Ivanovic playing right-back more than as a central defender. I like a lot the stability of Cahill and the understanding of Cahill with John. And I think at this moment Azpilicueta is unbeatable. For many, many matches I haven’t seen one player beat Azpilicueta in an individual duel.
“The team is compact, we have a good balance, we are playing well defensively.”
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