Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has made a bold claim by stating he still believes defending champions Chelsea are the favourites for the Premier League title, despite their shock defeat on the opening weekend.

Antonio Conte’s Blues suffered a surprise 3-2 defeat to Premier League relegation favourites Burnley at Stamford Bridge, putting them under immense pressure ahead of their huge clash with Tottenham Hotspur this weekend.

Chelsea are growing frustrated in the transfer market as they struggle to bolster their squad depth, following a wealth of departures that include the sale of Nemanja Matic to Jose Mourinho’s side, but the Portuguese boss still backs his former employers to mount a challenge for their crown again this season.

He claims the Blues can have no excuses for not challenging for the title again this season and has denied the claim that his side are better placed than their rivals. Quoted by Sky Sports, the experienced manager said:

“If they have problems the problems are going to finish in a couple of weeks because, in a couple of weeks, the market is closed and they don’t have problems anymore,”

“If they have – and I don’t know if they have – in a couple of weeks the problems are over. They have very good teams, very good players and I don’t see any reason for them not to be fighting for the title.”

“When people say, for example, Chelsea lost an important midfield player, you know if you lose one but you buy (Tiemoue) Bakayoko and (Danny) Drinkwater (who has been linked with a move from Leicester to Stamford Bridge) for example, what’s the problem?”

“The problem is when you sell and you don’t buy. But when you sell and you keep buying, what’s the problem? You are probably even stronger, so I think every top team in the Premier League is strong enough to be fighting for everything.”

“And when everybody is also in Europe – five in the Champions League and then two in the Europa League – you have the top seven teams playing for everything and all of them are strong.”

“For me the favourite is the champion – always,”

The Red Devils will come toe-to-toe with Chelsea at the start of November, in a tie that could be decisive in the title race.