Mourinho wants Man Utd players to lift burden off Ibrahimovic
LONDON (Reuters) - Jose Mourinho wants to see more of his Manchester United players scoring goals to take some of the burden off striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the club pushes for a top-four finish.
"I have to agree with you that we don't score enough goals," the Portuguese manager told reporters ahead of Sunday's trip to struggling Premier League champions Leicester City.
"Some of our players from these attacking creative positions they could, they should, score more goals."
Ibrahimovic has scored 19 goals for United in all competitions this season, and 14 in the league, with Juan Mata and Paul Pogba a long way behind the 35-year-old Swede with seven each.
United are unbeaten in 14 games in the top flight but have drawn their last three, with Wednesday's home match against relegation-threatened Hull City ending in a 0-0 draw.
That disappointing result left Mourinho's side sixth overall, 14 points behind leaders Chelsea, with more home draws to their credit than wins.
In Leicester, United come up against a side who have already shipped 38 goals -- two more than all of last season -- while struggling to score.
Mourinho, who led Chelsea to the league title in 2014-15 and then left when their form slumped the following year, said Leicester's woes came as no surprise.
"What Leicester did is one of the big things in the world of football. Total respect for what they did. Next season will be much better for them," he said.
"It will be a tough game for us but it will also be difficult for them."
United will be without injured centre back Phil Jones, who was substituted in the second half against Hull and has a bruised foot, for the match.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)