Jose Predicts 'Competitive' League  (Sky Sports)

Jose Mourinho is predicting that the team which wins the Premier League this season will lose more matches than normal.

The Chelsea manager believes that greater financial power, currently being enjoyed by many other clubs in England's top tier, will make it a tougher league to win.

Mourinho said: "To win the Premier League, we don't need so many points as before.

"I think more defeats, more lost points for the top teams. Crystal Palace buy (Yohan) Cabaye, as an example. I could give you much more examples.

"Welcome this mentality, welcome this economic power, welcome this ambition. If the Premier League was difficult, the Premier League will now be more difficult and I think less points will win the title."

And the 52-year-old Portuguese boss at Stamford Bridge admits his squad requires greater strength in defence.

Branislav Ivanovic, Kurt Zouma, Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta and John Terry are Chelsea's only first-team defenders.

And Mourinho went on: "Five is not enough. That's obvious.

"We cannot go to the Premier League with five defenders. That's our weakness. The quality is good, the numbers are not.”

But he says they are unlikely to increase their recent offer to Everton to buy John Stones.

He added: "The market sometimes has no rules. We, as Chelsea, we make our own rules.

"To make our own rules is to evaluate the players, and to know the players' value, and to know when we have to stop and turn to another side, and think in another option."