Sunday offers a couple of four o’clock encounters, with City facing a trip to newly promoted Cardiff, alongside a lip-smacking encounter between Europa League rivals, Tottenham and Swansea at the Lane.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side will be looking to build on the fine 4-0 win over Newcastle on Monday to inflict a second defeat on new boys Cardiff. Malky MacKay’s outfit failed to make an impression on the West Ham defence on the opening day but may fancy their chances against a City side without the services of skipper Vincent Kompany.
In North London, Swansea will arrive having suffered a 4-1 home defeat to champions United but boosted by their midweek Europa League victory which saw them put five past their Romanian opponents. They’ll meet a Spurs side also buoyed by five goals in Europe and looking to add to their three points gained at Palace last weekend, a victory that came courtesy of Roberto Soldado’s cooly taken spot-kick. All eyes will be on the Spaniard today as he sports the Fantasy armband for many.
The team news is in and as is follows:
Manuel Pellegrini makes just one change to the team that swept aside Newcastle on Monday evening. The City boss brings in Javi Garcia for the injured Vincent Kompany at the back and keeps faith in Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero up top, with Alvaro Negredo warming the bench once again. Matija Nastasic is fit enough for the subs bench as he steps up his recovery from an ankle injury.
The Bluebirds also make just a single alteration to last week’s team. Andrew Taylor returns at left-back after serving a one-match suspension, with Declan Jon dropping out. Fraizer Campbell leads the line again, though new boy Andreas Cornelius makes the bench after an ankle complaint.
At White Hart Lane, Andre Villas-Boas rolls out a 4-3-3 and hands Etienne Capoue a first start for the hosts alongside Mousa Dembele and Paulinho in central midfield, as Gylfi Sigurdsson shifts to the bench. Andros Townsend replaces the injured Aaron Lennon on the right after impressing in the midweek Europa League win over Dinamo Tblisi.
Michael Laudrup makes a couple of alterations from the side that started against Man United last week. Fit-again Jonathan de Guzman and Pablo Hernandez replace Leon Britton and Nathan Dyer, with the latter remaining sidelined with a hamstring complaint. Michu leads the line again with Jonjo Shelvey ion “the hole”, meaning Wilfried Bony warms the bench once more for the Swans.
Our Dugout Discussion chatroom is open and available throughout today’s games for those in search of some real-time chatter as events unfold.
