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Andre Villas-Boas: 'Mind games have no effect on title race'

Villas-Boas: 'Mind games have no effect on title race'
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Andre Villas-Boas dismisses the notion of mind games with Sir Alex Ferguson ahead of their weekend clash.

Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas has dismissed the significance of mind games ahead of the club's clash with Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

The Manchester United manager has become known as a mind-game expert in his time at Old Trafford, following feuds with rival managers Kevin Keegan, Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez.

However, the former Porto boss is adamant that what is most important is a team's belief in their manager.

"Regarding the mind games, I really don't know how to position myself," he said. "I will wait and see if I need to respond or not, but it's the players who are most important.

"You can react in different ways, and tell players different things. The most important thing is for the players to have belief in the manager. If they don't, they might think the manager is subjective to pressure.

"Last year, at Porto, I had my disagreements with the Benfica boss, which was normal when they were threatening for the title. But it had no effect on the title race."

The Blues are two points beneath the defending champions, but can leapfrog United with a win at Old Trafford this weekend.

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
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2Chelsea16104237191834
3Arsenal1686229151430
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest168442119228
5Manchester CityMan City168352823527
6Bournemouth167452421325
7Aston Villa167452425-125
8Fulham166642422224
9Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton166642625124
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1672736191723
11Brentford167273230223
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle166552321223
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd166462119222
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham165472129-819
15Crystal Palace163761721-416
16Everton153661421-715
17Leicester CityLeicester163582134-1314
18Ipswich TownIpswich162681628-1212
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1623112440-169
20Southampton1612131136-255


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