Premier League Team of the Season (so far) 3/3

Picking the two strikers who have impressed most over the first half of the domestic season hasn't been too difficult. There were a few contenders, but the pair chosen would likely be in most of our thoughts if asked the question, and have both come face-to-face a couple of times over the last week or so in what's blew up into a press battle of who's really the goalscoring king of Manchester.

Rooney's form this season has made all the difference in United still being in the title race, and having got to another cup final. Twenty-one goals already has him well on course to achieve his best ever return, and he continues to mature as a player, stepping into the shoes of a certain Portuguese winger who moved on to a bigger club in the summer to allow the club's fantastic Yank owners to make the huge losses look a bit more digestible.

Without the ginger-chinned Scouser they'd be up shit creek, and reports of another blockbuster bid from Spain continue to surface. Love him or hate him, and i'm sure most are in the latter camp, he's grown from promising youngster to key asset of one of the biggest clubs in world football. It's just a shame that at international level we don't have the players, or at least the team, to really make the most of his abilities.

For all that Fernando Torres has bagged his fair share he's battled to regain full fitness, and in a struggling side hasn't been at his best. With little support it's easy to see how he might not be able to have the same impact as usual, and with main creators Gerrard and Benayoun both in and out of the side with injuries, too, he's never really got his season going.

Darren Bent will always score goals. His move to Spurs didn't really work out, in part due to the competition, but he also suffered from a manager who didn't really fancy him, and the pressure of such a big-money transfer took its toll. He's a twenty-goals-a-season man, no doubt about that, and fifteen already in a side whose initial momentum seems a distant memory, represents a good return. With his confidence up he's the complete striker; quick, strong, decent in the air, good movement, a poacher's eye for goal.

The love affair between the Chelsea fans and Didier Drogba has always struck me as being a little odd. There's no doubting his abilities, or his goalscoring record, but spells of indifferent form, threats to leave, well-documented on-the-pitch behaviour, genius followed by lethargy, i'm surprised he's still there after so long. A record swelled though it is by his extraordinary 33-goal haul of 06/07, he's still as good as there in in England and Europe. Ancelotti has worked his two strikers into a side, and this season more than any other they're entertaining to watch, and the January wobble forecast by so many has failed to materialise.

Since Spurs' November 9-1 mauling of erratic Wigan at White Hart Lane, Jermain Defoe has hit what for him would have to be considered a relatively barren run. He could and probably should have had a triple hat-trick that day, and under both Redknapp and Capello he appears to be living up to the promise of his early career, forcing himself up the pecking order for both Tottenham and England. He's been helped tremendously by the form of widemen Lennon and Kranjcar, two wingers whose delivery would give any forward half a chance. He's already achieved his most productive Premier League season.

Carlos' performances over the last three months, coupled with my blue allegiances, made him odds-on to get the nod. Not only has he been putting the ball in the net, but his engine and attitude are rarely rivalled in the modern game. Too often spoken of as a 'workmanlike' player, however, it's his skill on the ball and eye for a pass that have impressed most. He's the complete striker, save the odd bit of optimistic shooting, and with him in the side you feel we've always got a chance. Last time a City forward bagged 25 goals in a top-flight season?

Picks: Tevez (City), Rooney (Stretford)