Mourinho bemoans United schedule

United swept CSKA Moscow aside with a 4-1 victory in Russia on Tuesday night but Mourinho is still concerned about the effect that could have in the future when they return to the Premier League.

Romelu Lukaku scored his ninth and tenth goals of the season and Anthony Martial scored from the spot before Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored a fourth just after half time. 

Konstantin Kuchaev scored a consolation goal for the home side which was too late to worry the visitors but Mourinho is already looking at their return to domestic football, with seven senior players missing in Moscow.

United are currently level on points at the top of the league with local rivals Man City and are unbeaten in six matches. The visit of bottom-of-the-league Crystal Palace, who haven't yet managed a point of a goal, should not be a cause for concern.

Nevertheless, Mourinho believes the Red Devils are at a disadvantage compared to some of their rivals, like Liverpool, who have two days' extra rest after playing in Moscow on Tuesday and facing Newcastle on Sunday.

"For the team confidence is good because six points in two matches in the Champions League puts us in a good position and for the players individually it is also good because we had very good performances," Mourinho said.

"(Chris) Smalling and (Victor) Lindelof had very good performances, (Ander) Herrera has not started a match in a long time and had a good performance, so did Anthony Martial - and I am speaking about the players who are not starting matches.

"The Premier League is another story. We play Saturday three o'clock against a fresh team and we have to play after this match.

"We have to keep our feet on the ground, stay humble and follow our direction because we are having a very good start to the season.

"We have started competitions strong in August and September and have now just one more game, a difficult one."