United being 'punished' with Christmas fixtures, says Mourinho

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London, December 23: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho believes his team are being "punished" with their fixtures during the Christmas period.

United have a trip to Leicester City in the Premier League Saturday to begin what is a hectic period of five games in 14 days.

Mourinho feels his team are among several being hurt by the fixtures, which will see United play four league games in 10 days.

"We are not the only ones. There are other teams in the same situation as we are and Leicester is one of them in the same situation as we are," he said.

"We did the simple objective study on that and there is a big gap, a really big gap between some clubs and other clubs.

"There are clearly the ones that are really privileged and there are clearly another group of the ones that are really punished by the decisions of the calendar and there are another group in the middle of it, where I would like to be.

"I know I would never be in the top group but in the middle group, we would like to be."

United are second in the Premier League, 11 points behind leaders and rivals Manchester City.