Emmanuel Adebayor is set to start in the Premier League match against his former club, Manchester City. This marks the first time this season that the Togolese striker will be in the starting lineup for a league match. Adebayor’s inclusion comes after his good performance in the Europa League last Thursday. Tottenham’s manager, Andre Villas-Boas, continues with his strategy of using only one striker, and Adebayor’s start pushes Jermaine Defoe to the bench.
In this match, Adebayor is the lone African player in Tottenham’s lineup, as Cameroonian Benoît Assou-Ekotto is injured. On the Manchester City side, three African players are part of the match sheet: Ivorian Yaya Touré starts, and Kolo Touré and Abdul Razak are on the bench.
Tottenham Starting XI: Friedel, Walker, Gallas, Caulker, Vertonghen, Sandro, Huddlestone, Lennon, Bale, Dempsey, Adebayor
Substitutes: Lloris, Naughton, Dawson, Livermore, Carroll, Sigurdsson, Defoe
Manchester City Starting XI: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany (C), Nastasic, Clichy, Y Toure, Barry, Silva, Tevez, Aguero, Kolarov
Substitutes: Pantilimon, Kolo Toure, Sinclair, Garcia, Dzeko, Razak, Maico