Van Gaal Expects Professionalism From Chelsea

Louis van Gaal is convinced Chelsea will be focused on beating Liverpool on Sunday despite already clinching the Barclays Premier League title.

Newspaper reports had claimed Blues boss Jose Mourinho had given his players four days off ahead of the weekend encounter but the Manchester United manager is in no doubt his pal will be as determined as always to extend a remarkable home record.

During his two spells in charge, Mourinho has amazingly only lost one of 96 league games at Stamford Bridge (against Sunderland last term). Another positive result for Chelsea this weekend would aid United's bid for a top-four slot as rivals Liverpool are currently four points adrift with three games remaining.

When asked by journalists about the possibility of Chelsea's stars only returning to training on Friday, van Gaal replied: "That is the privilege of every manager, certainly when you are the champions. I feel that Jose Mourinho can decide that and his team shall play and do their utmost best, I think.

"I have sent him already a [congratulatory] message but I don't know if the message has arrived because he changes his number a lot. I want to wish my colleague Jose Mourinho and Chelsea [congratulations] with the championship. It's well deserved, I think, when you see the statistics. You cannot doubt that they are the real champions."