Michail Antonio is set to find out if he has moved into a midfield No 1 slot over Victor Moses.
The £7 million signing has been in brilliant form over the last few games with the Chelsea loanee injured but he is now fit again and looking for match time.
It poses another pleasant headache for the manager who is surely likely to stick with Antonio given his form since since coming up to full match fitness.
Bilic confirmed that Moses was ready for action at his morning presser and he has a fascinating problem on his hands ahead of the match against the Toon Army.
He said: “Victor Moses is back with us, he is available. Cheikhou Kouyate missed the Bournemouth game, he probably could have played, he was about 85% then, but we had the option of resting him.
He is a very physical player, one of the best in the Premier League at what he does, so we didn’t risk him.”
This may well be the time for a false number nine team.
As already said in this thread, it could be 4:3:3 with Valencia, Antonio and Payet up front but interchanging.
Midfield would be Obiang and Noble quite deep with Kayoute braking forward.
Nice choice of defenders but I would expect Cresswell, Ogbonna and Tomkins to be joined by either Reid or Collins.
The only fly in the ointment seems to be that we need cover from wide front players to help fullbacks which I think means Valencia and Antonio wide therefore gives the manager a hard choice of risking this or going with what has worked well this season which is only one up front.
I would play both with Valencia up top switching rolls now Carroll and Sakho are out with Payet just behind pulling the strings
Then Kouyate and Obiang sitting in front of the back 4 breaking down there midfield and winning the ball for Payet,
We would have so much pace up front we can play the ball on the ground and still have Antonio and Valencia with heading ability up front,
With Noble and Song sitting on the bench to swap at any time and Jelavic if we need a highet presence,
Most games are being won now with pace up top and we lucky we have that now,
On choice Antonio has done nothing to be dropped and Moses had lost his form before his injury plus Antonio is the only one that has formed a partnership with AC
Its a headache, I wouldn’t drop Obiang or Antonio, If one of the midfield has to be dropped I would drop Noble for Kouyate but I doubt that will happen, the other option is the false 9 with Antonio, Payet and Valencia interchanging and Kouyate in for Jelly in a 4 3 3 / 4 5 1 type formation with Noble, Obiang and Kouyate providing the shield, this will also help us nullify their new signings with pace throughout the team
Move Valencia up top, have Antonio, Payet and Moses running in behind Enner, Obiang and Kayoute (sorry Nobby) Cresswell, Reid, Ogbanna and Tomkins as the back 4 and Mr Reliable in the sticks. Oh Happy Days and a 0-3 victory. COYI
As far as I’m concerned, it’s no contest, Antonio all day long. Hammer4life is right too, Jelavic is out of his depth.
Looks like everyone is on the same page here. If you’re going to make way for Moses you have drop Jelavic. He’s a passenger.
Antonio won both the free kicks we scored from at bournemouth and seems to be growing in confidence every game , it should be his place to lose .Obiang deserves to keep his place also , he has been great since hes come in . I think that its gonna be a bigger selection headache over collins. And reid …
Agree with Slaven. Play Antonio and Moses either side of Valencia. That will give us pace to burn. But I would drop Song for Kouyate, not Obiang who has been very good in midfield. Finally, revert to Tonks at RB. Much more solid defensively than Jenks and with a Moses Antonio combination up front we would not miss Jenks attacking forays.
Antonio for me !
Moses cannot defend like Antonio , he cannot match his box to box graft !
Moses was a summer signing with big expectations from some to perform ?
He has not lived up to his hype !! I think most are of the same opinion of him now having witnessed his team performances !! New contract at Chelsea ? Same as jenks ? Neither will feature as first choices for their respected clubs !
Bench best place for them , we need to bring on our own now as we certainly haven’t missed either of them this season !
Why not play them both. Antonio has been the driving force the last few games. Let’s not overlook the fact It was antonios effort in attack driving towards goal that won both the free kicks that we scored from in the last game. I would be tempted to put Moses and Antonio either side of Valencia in a 433 formation.
Antonio all day long, on current form.
Bilic tends to ease players back in from injury so I would expect Moses to be on the bench.
Kouyate will be straight back in, probably for Obiang, who will drop to the bench even though he has played really well recently.
The real issue is whether we start with Jelavic or move Valencia to central striker.