(Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur’s forgotten man Emmanuel Adebayor could be an attacking option for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Manchester City.
Coach Andre Villas-Boas said on Friday that Adebayor was in contention for his first appearance of the season after he played alongside Roberto Soldado in a 4-4-2 system in a behind-closed-doors friendly during the international break.
Our likely approach is to go with one up front, Villas-Boas told a news conference, suggesting his striker would be Soldado or Jermain Defoe.
They are very near each other at the moment and it could be a possibility that even Ade could play.
Adebayor has not played for Spurs this season after being ordered to train with the reserves.
The Londoners, however, have struggled up front, scoring just nine times in 11 league games including three penalties and one from open play by Soldado who joined the club from Valencia for 30 million euros ($40.57 million) in August.
Former Arsenal and Manchester City forward Adebayor, who scored five goals in 18 league starts last season, seems to have fought his way back into the good books of Villas-Boas.
Adebayor on his own or with another striker is a great player, said the coach. But we have two performing strikers in Soldado and Defoe.
Obviously Adebayor hasn’t had a chance to get back in the team yet. I’m sure that whenever that happens he will perform as well as the others.
Spurs are seventh in the league, five points behind leaders Arsenal, largely due to the fact they have kept seven clean sheets and conceded just six goals.
Villas-Boas said his team have a good record immediately after international breaks and that he favored a positive approach at City.
My philosophy is to play attacking football, he explained. I think that is the philosophy embraced at Man City as well so hopefully it’s going to be an open game.
($1 = 0.7394 euros)
(Editing by Tony Jimenez)