Emmanuel Adebayor is unavailable for Sunday’s game against Manchester City so for now at least, the usual question of who plays up front remains.

Luka Modric has fully recovered from a hamstring injury and according to Harry Redknapp should be involved however the club are still without Peter Crouch, Ledley King, William Gallas, Sandro, Wilson Palacios, Steven Pienaar and Danny Rose.

Starting in goal, having used three keepers in the first three games of the campaign, it seems logical that Brad Friedel should return. In front of him, Kyle Walker has recovered from a virus and could link up again with Dawson, Kaboul and BAE in the back four.

Midfield becomes harder to call and while Bale and Lennon are likely to play on the flanks, will Modric start in his usual position in the left centre? Jake Livermore could retain his place unless Harry feels that Huddlestone is ready to step back in, but somehow you wouldn’t be surprised to see Jermaine Jenas involved.

Up front, with Adebayor and Crouch unavailable and bearing in mind Pav’s performance on Thursday, could it be VDV behind Defoe by default?

Here’s our team to face Manchester City, what’s yours?

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20 COMMENTS

  1. i pretty much agree with this lineup accept that i would like Niko to be involved as i feel he looked sharp against Hearts and played with confidence wich is our problem at the moment.

    • That was Hearts.. As much as I like him he showed he wasn’t up to the pace against Man U and now we are playing City who doubtedly have a stronger midfield

  2. …not sure how you would describe it “logical” to put Friedel in goal. For me it would be logical to keep rotating the keepers until a clear “winner” emerges. Friedel did look secure, but he still fumbled the ball “Gomes-style”, and got away with it vs Utd. I would start with the more secure Corluka, with the option of bringing on pace in Walker. I’d keep Pav on bencg as an option to change formation to 442 – should we need. Apart from that, injuries limit us to no other choices.

  3. OK, 4-2-3-1
    Gomes
    Walker, Dawson, Kaboul (keeping Gallas’ spot warm), BAE
    Modric, Livermore/Hudd (standing in for Sandro)
    VDV, Kranjcar, Bale
    Defoe (replace with Adebayor or Leandro long-term)

        • cuz Niko is a better attacking player than Modric. He scores goals. He is more dangerous on the edge of the penalty area. I think they can play together in this way and because we havent tried it!

          • Niko is slower, has lower work rate, disappears in games, less consistent, gave away the ball too much vs Man U. Niko scores less goals than you think, and what is he doing the rest of the time? Why aren’t Chelsea going for Niko then?

  4. Frankly, any configuration of available players is not good.

    Given that our central defence is hopeless I would opt for Corluka at RB at least to start and go for more attacking options by replacing VDV with Townsend in a free role.

    Modric and Livermore in CM with Livermore being encouraged to play box-to-box and not just sit.

    Brad in goal.

    Unfortunately, I think your team is more likely and if so I don’t think we have any chance at all, with Hud, Walker, Dawson all in the same team.

  5. Corluka is less of a risk than Walker against players of the calibre of Nasri and Silva – love Walker but worry about his positional sense/losing the ball in risky areas..

    Brad for me in goal but its a close call.

    Hudd if fully fit alongside Mod but if not, then Jenas ahead of Livermore (for this game).

    For me, against this calibre of opposition we need experience and cool heads. Strangely, its the type of rare game where Jenas sometimes excels.

    As for the gentleman above who suggested dropping VDV for Townsend on the strength of a cameo against a well beaten Herts followed by another game against Hearts when he demonstrated that he is nothing more than an impact sub (at the moment), you gotta be joking!

  6. Get a life guys, these teams suck!

    Vdv and defoe can not play together, livermore and hudd in midfield, yeh right!

    The only team capable of causing a massive upset is:

    Freidel, corluka dawson kaboul BAE, Lennon, kranjcar modric bale, vdv, pav

    • Did you see pav against hearts? Also krankjcar can’t play centre not quick enough looks lazy good player but can’t dominate the midfield.

      • I have always been a huge fan of Pav… but after the Hearts game, I have been forced to rethink. A big opportunity for him. He should have got 2 or 3 against a team like that. He was tragic and worse – he didnt seem to give a ****. Defoe is not the answer… but better than Crouch!

        Totally disagree re: Niko. He is great in CM. He bossed us against Hearts when he came on we werre 100% better. His weaknesses are clear thats why I would play him in front of Modric and Sandro (in this case Livermore/Hudd).

  7. Yido 4ever – you’ve not picked any central, ball winning or sitting midfielders you joey. Who’s goin’ to track the runs of Toure, Silva, Nasri & Aguero if he comes deep? You’ve picked a fantasy team not a realistic one.

  8. You think hudd or livermore have got it in them to track citys midfield? I dont think so! Kranjxar has to play we have no one else, the mobile option is JJ.
    Hudd proved against hearts he is not fit, livermore aint fit to wear the shirt! Pav is useless, he has to play to add some height, blame the chairman fir not doing deals early enough, defoe cant start unless we go with two strikers

  9. Just looking at what we have available at the minute compared to what city have! we are screwed. Doesnt matter who we play today in all honesty!!! shite craic!!

  10. I would go with the team named at the top, however, it just suggests that a bit more strength is needed. Scott Parker would be good, cahill would help and another top striker would help too. I think it is difficult with VDV and Modders in the same side. We must make sure our ball retention is good so that we can play higher up the pitch. We are not that likely to ‘play defoe through’ and even if we do VDV cannot keep up and I fear that he gets a little isolated. COYS

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