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Jose Mourinho has admitted Manchester United can’t play like City or Liverpool – because his central defenders aren’t equipped for the job.

And the Old Trafford boss insists no one should be surprised at United’s poor start to the campaign because he predicted this season would always be a struggle after failing to land any of his major defensive targets.

United head to Burnley on Sunday desperate for a win to ease the pressure building around Mourinho and his stars after two successive defeats in their opening three games.

And after going gung-ho against Tottenham before losing 3-0 following more defensive woes, all eyes are on whether Mourinho will continue his front-foot tactics as he tries to steady his ship.

Burnley are in the bottom three and could be vulnerable after losing to Olympiakos in their Europa League qualifier.

(Image: Manchester United) (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

But Mourinho admits he hasn’t got the defenders to go all-out attack like City and Liverpool.

He said: “We will try. We are going to try, you know.

“It’s a process that has risks ­especially if you make the defensive mistakes that breaks that dynamic.

“The teams that are really, really good offensively are the teams that are very, very solid from the back.”

Asked whether his stars can play like City or Liverpool, Mourinho was guarded in his reply.

(Image: Matthew Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images) (Image: PA Wire)

“They play the way they play, and we play the way we play,” he said.

“I don’t even want to try to say something in relation to that. They are what they are and we are what we are. Against Tottenham, we were really positive and really strong and I think the opponent, a very good opponent, felt that and felt they were really in trouble. But two defensive mistakes in five minutes lost the game for us.”

In the summer, Mourinho was desperate to land England star Harry Maguire, his top target, but Leicester wouldn’t entertain selling him.

Maguire’s ball-playing ability would have given United a better balance and allowed the team a more expansive way of playing out from defence.

(Image: Plumb Images)

(Image: 2018 Getty Images)

Having failed to get Maguire or his back-up targets Jerome Boateng, of Bayern Munich, and Spurs star Toby Alderweireld, Mourinho isn’t surprised at United’s shaky start or the struggle they face closing the gap on Pep Guardiola’s defending Premier League champions.

“I said that in the summer before the ­competition started. It’s not especially now. Two defeats are two defeats,” Mourinho said.

“We still have 35 matches to play. It’s not because we lost six points that this is going to change. I knew this was going to be difficult because I knew that last season was going to be very, very difficult.”

After adding only one senior player in £52million midfielder Fred, Mourinho insists United can’t set long-term goals for this season – they have to go game-by-game.

(Image: Clive Mason/Getty Images) (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Asked about a realistic target, Mourinho said: “Win at Burnley. Then win against Watford. That is the target we have.

“We have matches to play every week and the target is always to win. We know that in the Champions League, we have to play the biggest candidate in Juventus.

“They were always a big candidate but they transformed themselves into the biggest candidate.

“They don’t hide the fact their investment made was really to win the Champions League. But even against that big team, we are going to try to win.

“Last season we had a fantastic start and we won the first three matches. We got nine points from three matches, scoring 10 goals.

“Then we lost a couple of matches. Maybe this time we started with two defeats and who knows if we will have a good run that gives us consecutive victories and consecutive points.”