Manchester City starting XI: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Nastasic, Clichy; Fernandinho, Toure; Navas, Aguero, Silva; Dzeko.
Possibly the all round best second XI so far, with City strong in reserve in all departments – especially up-front where Stevan Jovetic and Alvaro Negredo are quite the attacking pairing.
It’s difficult to tell if the two new faces will oust Sergio Aguero or Edin Dzeko as yet, although with Negredo winning the club’s Player of the Month award, it bodes well for the Spaniard.
Manchester United starting XI: De Gea; Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Carrick, Fellaini; Valencia, Rooney, Welbeck; Van Persie.
The side gets better as it goes forward, with a front four of Nani, Shinji Kagawa, Ashley Young and Javier Hernandez good enough to rivals most Premier League side’s first team.
David Moyes’ reluctance to play Kagawa is still bewildering to most and at the back United have strong back-ups in the shape of Phil Jones and Jonny Evans. Weak links are perhaps Anders Lindegaard, Chris Smalling and Anderson.
Tottenham Hotspur starting XI: Lloris; Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Rose; Paulinho, Dembele; Lennon, Eriksen, Lamela; Soldado.
Tottenham’s summer spending has left the squad looking pretty strong, although full-backs could be a concern if there is an injury to either Kyle Walker or Danny Rose.
That makes the loan of Benoit Assou-Ekotto to QPR even more strange and therefore Etienne Capoue has had to make the move back to centre-back in this formation. However, Vlad Chiriches, Sandro and Andros Townsend stand out as showing Spurs’ depth.
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