Mourinho: We will be a better team this season

The Reds bounced back from disappointing defeats to Brighton & Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur with three successive victories on the road in all competitions, and confidence is high ahead of the visit of Wolves to Old Trafford on Saturday.

Despite maintaining his view of the difficulty level in the Premier League, with so many sides competing for the top spots, the boss feels his team is improving and is in good shape.

Jose has also confirmed Alexis Sanchez will return to the starting XI at the weekend against last term’s Championship winners.

"I’m optimistic but, yes, it’s a difficult season," said the manager. "For sure, it’s a difficult season. For sure, I don't change that opinion, because we won two matches in the Premier League, it’s a difficult season for sure. You see the level of the teams, you see Liverpool's squad, City's squad, Chelsea's squad, Tottenham's squad, Arsenal are improving.

"It's going to be difficult, but I'm not saying we're going to have more points than last season because, last season, we collected a very acceptable number of points, but I think we are going to be a better team."

Expanding, Jose continued: "We are going to play better than we did, so that's what we can do, but I think it's going to be a very difficult season. Not just for us, also for the others, because the others can say exactly the same as I am saying and they can say: ‘Oh, Manchester United are a good team, good squad. City - good squad, good team.’

"All of them can say the same thing. If they think the season is going to be easy for them, I think they are wrong, but I don't think they are wrong. I think they all know, they all know that the season is going to be difficult.”