Who has the best backup in the division?
As any football manager worth his salt will tell you the modern game is all about a squad with depth, so here CaughtOffside looks at which Premier League team has the best second XI.
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6. Liverpool – Brad Jones; Jon Flanagan, Kolo Toure, Mamadou Sakho, Jose Enrique; Suso, Lucas Leiva, Emre Can, Lazar Markovic; Fabio Borini, Rickie Lambert.
First up we have the Reds, who just sneak in at sixth place with some average backup in their squad. The likes of Flanagan, Markovic and Can show great potential, but Jones, Enrique and arguably Lambert are simply not good enough.
5. Manchester United – Anders Lindegaard; Rafael, Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans, Tyler Blackett, Ashley Young; Darren Fletcher, Ander Herrera, Adnan Januzaj, James Wilson, Radamel Falcao.
Next up is United, who have some great strength in some areas – such as Falcao in attack – but also struggle in others with Lindegaard, Fletcher and Evans all having looked poor in recent times.
4. Arsenal – David Ospina; Hector Bellerin, Calum Chambers, Isaac Hayden, Nacho Monreal; Mathieu Flamini, Mikel Arteta; Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Tomas Rosicky, Lukas Podolski; Danny Welbeck.
This second XI shows just how limited the Gunners are in defence with three of the back four still teenagers, but further up the field things look a lot stronger.
3. Tottenham Hotspur – Michel Vorm; Eric Dier, Younes Kaboul, Vlad Chiriches, Danny Rose; Benjamin Stambouli, Mousa Dembele; Aaron Lennon, Paulinho, Andros Townsend; Roberto Soldado.
Despite their relatively poor start to the season Spurs actually have great strength in depth, with five regular internationals making up this backup team.
2. Chelsea – Petr Cech; Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen, Nathan Ake, Filipe Luis; Mohamed Salah, Ramires, John Obi Mikel, Andre Schurrle, Loic Remy, Didier Drogba.
Just missing out on top spot due to a slightly shaky defence is the Blues, although with the talent the West Londoners have out on-loan currently it’s probably no time to worry.
1. Man City – Willy Caballero; Bacary Sagna, Martin Demichelis, Matija Nastasic, Gael Clichy; Jesus Navas, James Milner, Fernando, Frank Lampard, Scott Sinclair, Stevan Jovetic.
Yet it’s perhaps little surprise that the reigning champions are leading the way, with Sinclair perhaps the only weak link in this very impressive second XI.