‘If Jose Mourinho says Tottenham vs Chelsea doesn’t mean anything to him, he’s lying’, says ex-Spurs star Darren Bent

This is the view of former Spurs striker Darren Bent, who believes the ‘Special One’ will be eager to get one over on his former club.

Mourinho became Chelsea boss in June 2004 and had a very successful time in charge which saw them win two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups before he suddenly left in September 2007.

He came back for a second spell at Stamford Bridge in 2013 and while there was some success, his tenure came to a sorry end when he was sacked by the club in December 2015, the team were languishing in 16th place in the Premier League having won the title the season before.

The Portuguese will face Chelsea for the first time as Spurs boss but has played down any suggestion that he will be extra determined to get the three points because it’s against a former club.

But Bent begs to differ and claims that he would always have a point to prove when playing against a former club and thinks Mourinho will feel the same.

Speaking on behalf of GentingBet, Bent said: “I know Mourinho will say that playing his ex-team doesn’t really mean anything but I can say as an ex-player that whenever I was playing against an old team, you always wanted to put one over on them.

“Whether they let you go and you want to show them that they made the wrong decision or you decide to go because it’s the best thing for your career and you want to show that you’ve improved as a player. There’s a lot riding on it.

“If he’s going to say that this game doesn’t mean anything to him then I think he’s lying.”

Spurs have undergone a mini-revival since Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino last month.

They’ve won four out of their last five Premier League matches and can actually leapfrog fourth-placed Chelsea with a win on Sunday.

Bent is backing his former club to seal a narrow victory, tipping 2-1 as the scoreline, and was full of praise for Mourinho’s impact at the club.

He also believes there’s no reason why they can’t finish in the Champions League spots come May.

Bent said: “There was probably a time where no one would’ve ever thought that Mourinho would in charge of Tottenham because the gulf between the two clubs was massive. Chelsea in the 00s were so dominant.

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