A Barcelona boy, with a north London footballing education, it is hard to know quite where Cesc Fabregas’s heart lies, but his new manager, Jose Mourinho, is in no doubt. “He loves Chelsea already,” he said on Friday of the former Arsenal captain. “He’s so happy: the way he plays, the way he’s a member of the squad, the way he lives in this little blue village. It’s like he’s been here for a long time.”

The Chelsea manager claimed he does not even know if Arsenal, who visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday in a match that pits the only two unbeaten sides in the Premier League against each other, had declined to take up the option of signing Fabregas, a right they had after a clause was written into the player’s Barcelona contract – and nor does he care.

“If you ask him now if he regrets the move, I’m sure he’d say no,” Mourinho added. “If you ask him if he’d choose a different option, he’d say no. And if you ask him where he thinks he’ll be in five years’ time, he’d say he sees himself for the next five years at Chelsea. He is Chelsea.”

So should he celebrate if he were to score against Arsenal? “He should score,” Mourinho said. “If he celebrates or not – I don’t care. When my team, Inter Milan, scored against Chelsea, and my team did three times, two in Milan and one at Stamford Bridge, I didn’t celebrate. I was happy, you can’t imagine how happy I was. But the point is not whether you celebrate or not. If you can’t control your emotion, you can’t. It’s all right.”

Chelsea’s early lead at the top of the league owes much to the fact that their summer signings, Fabregas and Diego Costa, have required no time to find their best form, not that this has surprised their manager. “I wanted [Fabregas] because I know the player he is. He was made in England, and played for so many years in English football, he doesn’t need that adaptation. He comes back home. We knew he was perfect for us.”

Despite both teams being unbeaten so far in the league this season, a Chelsea win would take them nine points ahead of Arsenal – and any repeat of the hammering they dished out at the Bridge last season (a 6-0 win) would do wonders for confidence. Mourinho, however, is not predicting a similar outcome.

Chelsea v Arsenal: Will Arsene Wenger finally get his first victory over Jose Mourinho? Show all 11 1 /11 Chelsea v Arsenal: Will Arsene Wenger finally get his first victory over Jose Mourinho? Chelsea v Arsenal: Will Arsene Wenger finally get his first victory over Jose Mourinho? Arsenal 2 Chelsea 2 (Premier League, 12 Dec 2004) Eidur Gudjohnsen scored just after the break to equalise after Thierry Henry had netted twice for the Premier League champions. John Terry was also on target for Chelsea. The draw maintained the Blues five-point lead over Arsenal Chelsea v Arsenal: Will Arsene Wenger finally get his first victory over Jose Mourinho? Chelsea 0 Arsenal 0 (Premier League, 20 April 2005) Jose Mourinho's side were held at Stamford Bridge, but it was soon celebration time; they won their first league title in 50 years 10 days later at Bolton Chelsea v Arsenal: Will Arsene Wenger finally get his first victory over Jose Mourinho? Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1 (Community Shield, 7 Aug 2005) Didier Drogba scored twice to begin his terrorising campaign against Arsenal. Cesc Fabregas later pulled one back for Arsenal Chelsea v Arsenal: Will Arsene Wenger finally get his first victory over Jose Mourinho? Chelsea 1 Arsenal 0 (Premier League, 21 Aug 2005) That man Drogba scored against Arsenal again, giving Philippe Senderos an afternoon to forget Chelsea v Arsenal: Will Arsene Wenger finally get his first victory over Jose Mourinho? Arsenal 0 Chelsea 2 (Premier League, 18 Dec 2005) Arjen Robben and Joe Cole scored as the Blues swept the Gunners aside at Highbury, leaving Arsene Wenger's side a mammoth 20 points off the top of the table Chelsea v Arsenal: Will Arsene Wenger finally get his first victory over Jose Mourinho? Chelsea 1 Arsenal 1 (Premier League, 10 Dec 2006) Mathieu Flamini's 78th-minute strike looked to give Wenger his first victory over Mourinho...until Michael Essien smashed the ball in with six minutes remaining Chelsea v Arsenal: Will Arsene Wenger finally get his first victory over Jose Mourinho? Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1 (League Cup Final, 25 Feb 2007) Theo Walcott's first goal for Arsenal sparked pandemonium in one half of the Millennium Stadium, but then the Gunners' old nemesis Drogba scored a double to secure the trophy for Chelsea. During a melee at the final whistle, John Obi Mikel was sent off for the Blues, while Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor were dismissed for Arsenal Chelsea v Arsenal: Will Arsene Wenger finally get his first victory over Jose Mourinho? Arsenal 1 Chelsea 1 (Premier League, 6 May 2007) Arsenal holding Chelsea to draw at the Emirates Stadium only benefited one team - Manchester United, who were crowned Premier League champions for the first time since 2003. Gilberto Silva opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Khalid Boulahrouz was sent off for Chelsea, before Essien equalised against Arsenal again. Jose Mourinho implored Blues' supporters to keep their chin up (pictured) after the match after they lost their title after successive seasons as champions Chelsea v Arsenal: Will Arsene Wenger finally get his first victory over Jose Mourinho? Arsenal 0 Chelsea 2 (League Cup fourth round, 29 October 2013) Six years after their last face-off, Mourinho and Wenger renewed their rivalry in the Capital One Cup. Despite home advantage, and a number of first team members starting the match compared to the Blues' impressive second-string, the Gunners succumbed to a two goal defeat thanks to a goal from Cesar Azpilicueta and the genius of Juan Mata GETTY IMAGES Chelsea v Arsenal: Will Arsene Wenger finally get his first victory over Jose Mourinho? Arsenal 0 Chelsea 0 (Premier League, 23 December 2013) The match ended a dour stalemate at the Emirates. Olivier Giroud missing the best chance of the game. Arsenal missed the chance to leapfrog to the top of the Premier League after the draw Chelsea v Arsenal: Will Arsene Wenger finally get his first victory over Jose Mourinho? Chelsea 6 Arsenal 0 (Premier League, 22 March 2014) Wenger's 1,000th game in charge of the Gunners ended in this devastating defeat Getty Images

“A result like that happens once every 50 years, not every year,” Mourinho said. “It was not normal because Chelsea and Arsenal matches are usually close, so it was a bad day for Arsenal and an unbelievable day for us.

“But me against Arsène Wenger? I never had the pleasure of playing against him one against one, I’ve never played him at beach soccer, its always between Chelsea and Arsenal and Sunday’s game is out of context to the past. What happened in the past, happened in the past.”

Mourinho also refused to apologise for notoriously calling Wenger a “specialist in failure” last year. He also congratulated him on his 18th anniversary as Arsenal manager, even if, as is Mourinho’s way, such congratulation seemed to contain the seed of criticism.

“It is an amazing achievement, congratulations to him and the club because it is not just to do with the manager’s quality but also the philosophy of the club, so obviously I congratulate both.”

Mourinho seemed to be asking if any other club of Arsenal’s magnitude, would have held on to the same manager through nine trophyless years before turning to the teams’ unbeaten starts.

“It’s difficult to be unbeatable in the Premier League,” Mourinho added. “So difficult that, out of 20, only two have done it after six matches. Not after 20, after six. It shows what the Premier League is. It’s not easy to any one of us to play against the other. Two unbeaten teams.”