Jose Mourinho has won more than half of his matches against former clubs

Jose Mourinho takes on one of his former sides tonight when Tottenham welcome Manchester United to north London for a huge game in the race for next season’s Champions League.

It was not a happy return to Old Trafford for the Portuguese boss in the return fixture when, back in December, Spurs were beaten 2-1 thanks to a brace from Marcus Rashford.

But Mourinho has cause for optimism that he can inflict revenge on the Red Devils. 

Jose Mourinho takes on former club Manchester United with Tottenham on Friday evening

Mourinho’s last game against a former club was a 2-1 defeat by Chelsea back in February

That is because his record against his former employers is actually quite good. 

Mourinho has won 18 of the 35 games against old teams, losing 11 and drawing six. A 19th win tonight would go a long way to helping Spurs close the gap on the top four. 

But Mourinho will need to turn halt a concerning run of form against previous clubs in order to take all three points against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, who boast an in-form Bruno Fernandes and a fit again Paul Pogba.

As Tottenham manager, Mourinho has lost all of his last three Premier League games against sides he’s formerly coached.

There was that defeat against United back in December as well as back-to-back losses against Chelsea and former player Frank Lampard this season, at Stamford Bridge in February and at home just before Christmas. 

Whereas in his previous 16 league games against his former clubs in both his native Portugal and England, he had only lost twice, winning nine and drawing five. 

In the 35 games Mourinho has had against his old clubs his sides have scored 48 times and conceded 38 so we can expect a pretty tight affair this evening.

There have been some classics along the way, too.

As United manager back in October 2018, Mourinho’s visit to west London was chaotic to say the least.

The Red Devils came from a goal down to lead 2-1 before Ross Barkley scored in the 96th minute to rescue a point.

A match at Chelsea in October 2018 descended into chaos at the end as Mourinho (left) was embroiled in a bench row

The riled-up Portuguese held up three fingers to remind Chelsea fans how many times he won

Chelsea’s technical assistant Marco Ianni raced to celebrate Barkley’s strike in front of Mourinho, which saw him completely lose his cool.

He then taunted the home fans at the final whistle with three fingers, indicating how many Premier League trophies he had won at Chelsea.

In March 2017 Mourinho endured another miserable return to Stamford Bridge when his United side bowed out of the FA Cup.

N’Golo Kante got the only goal of the game early in the second half but this one was all about what was happening on the touchline as Mourinho and Conte were involved in furious debates following a red card for Ander Herrera.  

The most humiliating came in October 2016 though when, in his first game at Stamford Bridge as United manager, he was beaten 4-0 with Pedro scoring barely a minute after kick-off.

One of Mourinho’s greatest nights as he guided Inter Milan into the Champions League final against former employers Barcelona

Mourinho’s return to Old Trafford in December 2019 ended in a loss thanks to Marcus Rashford

It is not just in the Premier League that Mourinho has gone to war against former clubs either. In April 2010 his Inter Milan side produced a European masterclass to dump Barcelona out of the Champions League.

Stinging from his rejection when he applied to replace Frank Rijkaard in 2008, Mourinho set Inter up with an impenetrable defence. They stood tall and, after the final whistle, Mourinho’s wild celebrations on the pitch became legend as he sprinted across the turf to celebrate with the Inter fans perched high up in the gods. 

With no fans in place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tonight it might be hard for Mourinho to muster up the passion to produce such a similar celebration if his Spurs side can beat United.

With Harry Kane and Son Heung-min both fit again, finally giving Mourinho attacking options he has been without, they do have a chance although their former before the Premier League was horrific.

If there is one thing we have learned, though, is that Mourinho can always pull something out of the bag on a big night. Spurs need their manager to be on top form to launch their push for a top four finish.