Manchester City: Hart or Given – Who is your number one?

Most Premier League sides only have one recognised top class goalkeeper in their ranks. Manchester United have Edwin Van der Sar and Tomas Kuszack, Chelsea have Petr Cech and Henrique Hilario while some Arsenal fans wouldn’t even call Manuel Almunia a goalkeeper! Yet at Eastlands Roberto Mancini has two top rate shot stoppers to call on, Shay Given and Joe Hart.

Both Hart and Given are fantastic keepers who would walk into most teams in Europe, but the question I’m posing all you City fans today is; If you were Mancini who would be your number one and why?

Shay Given

The former Newcastle United goalie has been described by Mancini as “one of the best five goalkeepers in the world” and it’s hard not to agree. Given has fantastic reflexes and agility, is bright and alert for the entire game and hardly ever makes a mistake. You have to wonder what sort of state Newcastle United would have been in had Given not been between the sticks, especially when he had Bramble and Boumsong in front of him!

The Republic of Ireland international faces a race against time to prove his fitness before the new campaign gets under way after injuring his shoulder against Arsenal at the tail end of last season. However, the 34-year-old insists he will be ready for selection.

Given kept 12 clean sheets last season for City and was just as important to the club’s climb up the table as Carlos Tevez was at the other end.

Joe Hart

Waiting in the wings for his chance to prove he is the best keeper at Eastlands is future England number one Joe Hart. The Shrewsbury-born shot stopper’s hopes of replacing David James and Robert Green in the international set-up were boosted no end by England’s disastrous displays in South Africa. In fact it remains a mystery to me why Capello never gave Hart the number one jersey to start with.

Hart had an amazing campaign last season with Birmingham City and was one of the main reasons why the Blues finished so highly. Brave, confident and assured, Hart will go through his own team-mates in order to claim the ball. Like Given, Hart has amazing reactions and is prepared to use any part of his body to keep the ball out of the net.

The 23-year-old also kept 12 clean sheets last season for Birmingham City and proved to all the doubters that he can cope with life in the Premier League.

Roberto Mancini has one of the best selection nightmares a manager can wish for. Does he plump for the experienced international shot stopper, who has never let him down before, or does he side with youth and Hart’s lack of fear?

For me Given just edges it, purely because of his experience, but he’ll know that Hart will be waiting to pounce if there are any dips in form.

So Given just nicks it for me, but what about you? If you were Mancini who would you hand the number one shirt to? Whatever your view, I’d love to hear from you.

· Calling all Manchester City fans. Do you think you could do a better job than Mancini? Want to put your money where your mouth is? Why don’t you enter our fantasy football league? Register your details at fantasy.premierleague.com  pick your team and let battle commence. Best of all it’s absolutely free, so you can keep your money in your wallet.

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