Latest Starting XI Gossip!

At the time of writing, kick off time is still over fifty hours away but already the speculation over who Avram Grant will select in his starting eleven is taking up numerous column inches in our daily press.Today, we awoke to find that one leading tabloid appears to have insider knowledge and has decided to share its information with its readers by categorically stating that Avram Grant has bowed to pressure and has elected to start with both Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack in midfield. It`s also been bold enough to suggest that Avram is prepared to start with both Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka up front. However, what they don`t tell us is whether Avram will resort to a 4-4-2 formation to accommodate Anelka and Drogba or whether Anelka will be assigned a wide role.Unfortunately, the tabloid isn`t bold enough to predict whether John Terry will start or not. However, we can report that the Evening Standard, on Thursday night, ran a story suggesting that if our club captain was not to start, he`d be prepared to confront Avram Grant over the matter.Clearly, with fifty hours or so to go, this particular soap opera has a few more twists and turns before its plot comes to an inevitable conclusion.One player though who remains fairly relaxed over the whole affair but is hoping to be selected is Joe Cole.Cole, who has played a significant number of games under Grant, missed the Carling Cup Final win over Arsenal last season when he was out injured. Speaking briefly about his possible inclusion, Cole had this to say,"I`m desperate to be involved after missing out last year." With Wembley having seen some good performances from Joe, mainly in an England shirt recently, let`s hope he can convert his international form to club level.Meanwhile, we`ll endeavour to bring you as many of the rumours as possible in the build up to the final, after all everybody loves a bit of gossip don`t they!