Man Utd 5-6 Spurs: Son, Romero absences gives two surprise Red Devils the nod in combined XI
Tottenham are missing a few players for their Premier League clash at Manchester United, so there are a couple of unlikely Red Devils in our combined XI of the two sides…
GK: Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham)
Manchester United did their best to keep Andre Onana for this fixture, which is a slap in the face to Altay Bayindir, who was signed to fill in when the Cameroonian is unavailable. It would be an even bigger slap in Vicario’s face if we chose Onana over him.
The Italian shot-stopper has been a revelation at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and it would be very fair to say he has been the best goalkeeper in the Premier League this season.
RB: Pedro Porro (Tottenham)
Another player who has arguably been the best player in their position this term, Porro has been very impressive since joining Spurs from Sporting last January.
Solid defensively and a nuisance going forward, Porro has been much better than Red Devils right-backs Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Diogo Dalot.
CB: Raphael Varane (Manchester United)
The first of a couple questionable United inclusions, Varane keeps new Spurs boy Radu Dragusin out of our combined XI, mainly because we do not know enough about him. We know a lot about Varane, which probably makes his inclusion a bit confusing. He hasn’t been great for United, has he?
Let’s stick with it, though. We all know Varane is brilliant on his day but we are also fairly confident we will be left with egg on our faces when he scores an own goal and Dragusin does a madness on his debut.
CB: Micky van de Ven (Tottenham)
One of the signings of the season, Van de Ven should make his return to Ange Postecoglou’s starting XI at Old Trafford.
A superb modern-day central defender, the Dutchman starred for Spurs before suffering a hamstring injury against Chelsea in November. His return is a massive boost.
Argentine World Cup winner Cristian Romero would have joined Van de Ven if he wasn’t injured.
LB: Luke Shaw (Manchester United)
Destiny Udogie is hard done by here, we know it. The young Italian has excelled under Postecoglou, but we don’t think he is quite on the same level as Shaw…yet.
Admittedly, Shaw has not been close to his best this season, mainly due to injury problems, while Udogie has probably been the best left-back in the Premier League. We have chosen to ignore all of that and gone with the good ol’ logic that class is permanent.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur (Tottenham)
Spurs are without Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr – who are both at the African Cup of Nations – so Postecoglou will be buzzing to have a fully fit Bentancur at his disposal.
The competition at Old Trafford is pretty weak so his inclusion is a no-brainer. Kobbie Mainoo has looked good but it would be pretty knee-jerk to put him in our combined XI ahead of the Uruguayan.
CM: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
The Manchester United skipper gets the armband for our combined XI with Heung-min Son on international duty.
Fernandes has a disappointing three goals and three assists in 19 Premier League appearances this season, but he is still dominating a number of playmaking statistics.
RW: Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United)
A rare bright spark for United this season, Garnacho has been one of Erik ten Hag’s best players in recent weeks.
James Maddison’s injury means he starts on the right wing for us, as a certain someone has been playing in the No. 10 role for Spurs in his absence.
AM: Dejan Kulusevski (Tottenham)
That man is Kulusevski, who has been great playing through the middle as opposed to his usual role on the right wing.
Five goals and two assists in the Premier League do not do justice to the campaign the Swedish playmaker is having if truth be told. He will try to orchestrate a big win for Spurs on Sunday and if they are to get all three points, he will be crucial.
LW: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
Three goals and three assists in 19 Premier League matches this season also do not do Rashford’s season too much justice. He has performed a lot worse than those below-average statistics suggest.
Despite this, he is in this combined XI. That is mainly because Son is at the Asian Cup with South Korea and new Spurs boy Timo Werner is hardly the superior player.
ST: Richarlison (Tottenham)
Rasmus Hojlund’s slow start to the season makes this an easy call. Richarlison is beginning to find his groove at Spurs after a really difficult debut season, but he can still do an awful lot more.
The 26-year-old has six goals and three assists in the Premier League this term, which is a lot better than Hojlund’s one goal and zero assists in two fewer matches.
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