Furious Jose Mourinho has branded Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger ‘a specialist in failure’ in response to his claim that the Premier League crown was Chelsea’s to lose.

Mourinho has played down his side’s chances of lifting the trophy in recent weeks and described the Blues as nothing more than ‘a little horse’ in the title race.

Chelsea though are top of the table and lead the Gunners by a single point, while their opponents this weekend lie a further two points behind.

Wenger piled the pressure on the Special One in his press conference this morning with his comments about the Stamford Bridge club’s title credentials and what he perceived as a fear of failing..

It was a move that visibly agitated Mourinho and prompted  the Portuguese to taunt his opposite number for his lack of silverware since 2005.

"He is a specialist in failure. I'm not," said Mourinho, whose side play Manchester City in the FA Cup tomorrow.

"If supposedly he is right and I'm afraid to fail, it's because I haven't failed many times.

"Maybe he's right. Maybe I'm not used to failing.

“If Mr Abramovich [Chelsea’s owner] gives me eight years to prepare a team, which I don't want – I just want my four years of contract and, after that, to deserve or not deserve the next contract – but in eight years you have to build so much, so much, so much.

“I don't want eight years. I just want four. I want the next one to say we are candidates.

Soccer - Barclays Premier League - Manchester City v Chelsea - Etihad Stadium
Not happy: Chelsea's Manager Jose Mourinho

"The reality is he [Wenger] is a specialist. Eight years without a piece of silverware, that's failure.

"If I do that at Chelsea, eight years, I leave London and I don't come back."

The verbal exchange between the two managers reignites a feud the pair started in 2005.

Then, Mourinho blasted Wenger for monitoring his club’s transfer business and labelled the Arsenal manager a voyeur.

"I think he is one of these people who is a voyeur," the Chelsea boss said back in October 2005.

"He likes to watch other people. There are some guys who, when they are at home, have a big telescope to see what happens in other families. He speaks, speaks, speaks about Chelsea."

A place in the quarter-finals of football’s oldest cup competition is up for grabs tomorrow as Chelsea’s patched up defence travels up to Manchester City.

The Blues were sensational at the Etihad less than two weeks ago as they outmuscled Manuel Pellegrini’s side to record a 1-0 victory in the Barclays Premier League.

It is a competition that both sides have enjoyed great success in over the past few years.

Chelsea have won three titles in the last five years, while City boast one triumph and were beaten finalists last May against Wigan Athletic.

Pellegrini’s team have been red-hot in front of goal this season but things have dried up lately, having drawn blanks in their last two outings.