Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal is ready to turn up the heat on Chelsea's title hunt

United can narrow the gap on leaders Chelsea to five points by winning at Stamford Bridge today with Mourinho’s men still having to face Arsenal and Liverpool.

And Van Gaal believes Mourinho’s pragmatic philosophy will see him send out his side to play for a draw.

“The title? It is not logical but it is still possible,” said Van Gaal.”It is more a case of when and if, and I don’t believe in when and if. I believe in facts. The fact is that we are behind Chelsea.

“But we have to play against them and so do Arsenal, so we can lay pressure on Chelsea’s shoulders. You never know, you’ve seen it in previous Premier League seasons. So I cannot say it is not possible, but it is not logical.

‘They play at home but I think that Chelsea will be satisfied with a draw. Of course they will want to beat us and we want to beat them. But the question is how long players can play in the discipline.” Despite a six-game winning run, including notable victories over Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester City, the demanding Van Gaal is still waiting for the perfect game from his players.

“We are progressing and playing more like a team,” he said. “There is more balance in the team now. I do believe that we can play very well but we haven’t played very well for the full 90 minutes yet. Although we won the [Manchester] derby, the first 15 minutes were not good.”

But Van Gaal is encouraged by the fact that United are top of the mini table for matches between the top seven clubs.

“Now we have reached the point that they are doing it as a team, not as individuals because football is a team sport, so that is the difference,” he said. “It [the form against top sides] is because we have now the theory of games we have to play against the better teams.

“When the better teams came in the early stage of our process we would have lost.”

United’s hopes of inflicting Chelsea’s first home league defeat of the season, however, have been hit by injuries that will force Van Gaal to disrupt his team and could see in-form striker Wayne Rooney move back into midfield.

Michael Carrick (calf) is already out, and if Daley Blind (foot) fails a late fitness test, United will be without both their holding midfield players.

They will also be short at left-sided centre back if Phil Jones (ankle) also fails a late test and joins Marcos Rojo (groin) and Jonny Evans (suspended) on the sidelines. Luke Shaw will return at left back against the team he supported as a boy while Angel Di Maria and Tyler Blackett could also be recalled.

But Robin Van Persie is still building up his fitness after recovering from an ankle injury.