Predicting the lineup for the opening game of the season

Article by Joe Fish

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This week, The Telegraph had a go at predicting the opening-day starting XIs for all of the Premier League title contenders.

It is slightly surprising that Tottenham were even included in this exercise, considering that we are around 66/1 with most bookmakers, which leaves a significant gap to Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and the Manchester clubs.

Nevertheless, this is what they came up with:

Lloris; Walker, Chiriches, Vertonghen, Davies; Paulinho, Schneiderlin, Holtby; Eriksen, Adebayor, Lamela

I give them an 8/11. What would you give them?

Despite the arrival of Michel Vorm from Swansea City, supposedly to offer competition to Hugo Lloris, the Frenchman is still very much number one.

He is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world and has recently committed his future, in contract form at least, to White Hart Lane by penning an improved five-year deal.

Vorm, who has faded somewhat after a terrific start to his career in England, provides us with one of the best deputies in the country, and will perhaps keep Lloris on his toes that little bit more than 43-year-old Brad Friedel would.

But Lloris will be Mauricio Pochettino’s first choice, and may even be given the responsibility of captaining the side, as he does the France national side.

Unlike Vorm, Ben Davies will come from Wales and straight into the team, with Pochettino seeing him as a better defensive option than Danny Rose.

Rose has had a taste of first-team football now and may not stay at the club to fight for his place, and thus Davies will be even surer of his starting berth.

Kyle Walker could have the other full-back position tied down for the next decade, if he can cut out the brainless mistakes that are marring his game.

Certainly, though, the England international will be persisted with for this season at least, and could be a real weapon for us if Pochettino can incite from him the same levels of performance that he did his full-backs at Southampton.

The central defensive pairing is not so transparent, with Jan Vertonghen supposedly interesting Barcelona and Michael Dawson likely to leave.

Noises from Spurs suggest that Vertonghen is going to be locked in chains and kept under personal surveillance by Daniel Levy to ensure that he stays.

He suffered a huge dip in standards at the back end of last season, but could return to the form that saw him named in the 2012-2013 PFA Team of the Year if he is motivated to play under the new manager and given a regular partner.

Dawson has been a great servant over his nine-year spell as a Lillywhite, but it is time for him to move on, and a series of injury problems likely mean that Younes Kaboul will be demoted to back up alongside youngster Ezekial Fryers.

The confident and skillful Vlad Chiriches is a favourite of mine and showed promise in his debut campaign, but his method of defending splits opinion and Vertonghen could do with a pacier, more physical companion.

Chiriches may be a starter against West Ham United at Upton Park, but expect Pochettino to enter the market for a first-choice centre-half before the close of the window. Why we weren’t in for Steven Caulker, I cannot figure out.

Critics of Paulinho’s passing and work rate need to appreciate that he offers us something that we have not had in years – a genuine goal threat from the middle of the park.

He should be a mainstay of the XI this season, providing that he is fit and fresh following another draining summer, and although Morgan Schneiderlin is odds-on to join him in a three-man midfield, Southampton’s reluctance to sell and Levy’s famous haggling mean that his fate could go undecided until deadline day.

I anticipate Nabil Bentaleb and Moussa Dembele, not Lewis Holtby, completing the trio for the trip to Upton Park. Maybe Pochettino is the manager who will finally make a player out of the uber talented and yet often dispensable Dembele.

Having that physical presence in central areas will allow Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen, our two most gifted players (allegedly!) the chance to focus on making an impact in the attacking third, as Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez were allowed to do with great success at St Mary’s.

There is a confidence around the Lane that £30m club-record signing Lamela will begin to show his true colours under the guidance of his Argentine compatriot, and he must be given the opportunity to do so with a prolonged run in his preferred role, drifting inside from the right wing.

Eriksen was one or two cuts above the rest of our offensive-minded midfielders last season, scoring seven goals in 23 Premier League starts, and could excel even more should we surround him with players of hopefully better quality.

He is most comfortable in a central role, but showed that he can still be effective playing off the left, and that could be where he spends most of his time if our primary formation is 4-3-3. That could change to 4-2-3-1 for home games against sides in the bottom half of the division.

A striker must remain a priority in the transfer market, and with the names being linked, mainly Wilfried Bony and Romelu Lukaku, of the Emmanuel Adebayor mould, the Togolese enigma could be frozen out again.

This summer could be a good time to rid ourselves of the Adebayor baggage. Hopefully we will find a suitor in the shape of Monaco or another money-rich fool, and Roberto Soladao will lead the line until a replacement is bought.

Soldado’s pedigree suggests that he is almost certain to have a better campaign than last and he will present a good alternative to our main goal getter.

So, Mr. Telegraph writer, I am taking you on. With some of, but realistically not all of, Schneiderlin, a defender, a striker and Antoine Griezmann, oh god please Antoine Griezmann, to come in and improve it, here is my XI for August 16:

Lloris; Walker, Chiriches, Vertonghen, Davies; Bentaleb, Paulinho, Dembele; Eriksen, Lamela; Soldado

Let’s see who wins. The best of luck to you.

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