Jose Mourinho admits he is wary of facing Newcastle United this weekend – and warned his players not to be fooled by the 3-0 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion. Spurs take on the Magpies just a couple of days after returning from Macedonia for a Thursday night Europa League qualifier. Mourinho’s side beat Newcastle 3-1 back in July, but they are in the middle of a packed schedule.
Jose Mourinho said “They had a fantastic first victory away, playing well. They lost against Brighton, but Brighton is a team capable of hurting you. That’s the Premier League this season. We are going to have many of these unexpected results, and no public makes home and away not as important, the team that plays away probably feels more comfortable to fight for the points. It’s going to be difficult. Of course, they played Wednesday and changed all their team against Morecombe (Carabao Cup). For us, it’s a different story. He’s (Steve Bruce) a guy I like very, very much since my arrival in England many years ago. I played against him so many times in different clubs, Steve with different clubs. I met him a few times outside match days. I spoke with him on the phone so many times because when he was at Villa, he had some of my players on loan. I spoke with him when I was Man United manager and he was of course an important former Man United captain. I like him very, very much. Every match is important for us and we lost three points out of six possible in the Premier League. We want more than that, so we have to think about trying to get the three points against Newcastle, a team that is playing well, strong. They had a very good transfer window and they are going to be difficult, but let’s go home, try to rest and be ready.”