Jose Mourinho Says Manchester United in 'Unfair' Top-4 Race with Liverpool

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has voiced concerns his side are in an "unfair" battle with Liverpool to finish fourth in the Premier League due to their commitments in other competitions. 

The Red Devils are through to the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League and have already won the EFL Cup this season. Speaking after Thursday's 0-0 stalemate at Manchester City, Mourinho said, per Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News:

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First of all, I think we have played 18 more matches than Liverpool. Eighteen more matches is like half of a Premier League, 18 matches are many miles in the players' legs, so you can say that is an unfair fight.

[...]

But we go for it, we fight, 24 matches in the Premier League is a lot, so the guys, they have amazing spirit and here we go again Sunday. 

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Mourinho also bemoaned the losses of Marouane Fellaini and Timothy Fosu-Mensah following Thursday's bore draw. The former was sent off for a head-butt of Sergio Aguero, while the latter was added to United's growing injury list.

Per Luckhurst's report, the Red Devils will be without a raft of their stars for Sunday's trip to Swansea City, with Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Juan Mata, Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones all sidelined.

United's draw at the Etihad Stadium kept them one point adrift of the Citizens and two points below third-placed rivals Liverpool, whom they can still have hope of overturning with their two games in hand.

That being said, Mourinho's men have now drawn as many games as they have won in their last eight league outings and could do with converting more of those results into maximum points if they're to seal UEFA Champions League football:

Meanwhile, Liverpool have only four Premier League games left to play and travel to Watford on Monday before hosting Southampton six days later. They'll then take on West Ham United away from home before ending their campaign at home to Middlesbrough.

It seems all too possible United will drop points in the coming weeks, too, after ESPN's Alex Shaw detailed their run-in over the next fortnight or so, with Europa League semi-final foes Celta Vigo unlikely to be pushovers:

Mourinho may term it "unfair" that Liverpool will feel fresher for their end-of-season run-in, but then these are the responsibilities a team must bear if they're good enough to go far in competition across multiple fronts.

It would be a disappointment if United failed to win the Europa League as well as missing out on a top-four finish, and the Red Devils chief may need to decide where his focus lies rather than attempt to succeed at home and abroad.