Hojbjerg, Bale and Reguilon miss out on Tottenham-Man Utd Ultimate XI
Tottenham's welcome of Manchester United should have huge repercussions in the race for a top-four finish. A three-game winning run has all but confirmed United's spot in the competition next season, though they cannot afford to rest on their laurels with eight games still to play.
Spurs will have been disappointed to see Chelsea and Liverpool both win yesterday. The north London side are now in seventh, five points off fourth, and given the Harry Kane news over the weekend, a Champions League finish is imperative.
With that in mind, we run through a combined XI of the two teams ahead of this afternoon's clash, and this one is a doozy. Manchester United edge Tottenham in this side, with six players to the home side's five, of an XI that excludes injured and suspended players. That rules out the likes of Matt Doherty and Anthony Martial, who both miss today's huge match up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Starting from the back, and of those to have made 15 or more league appearances, it is Hugo Lloris (6.73) who features between the sticks. Of the two teams, David De Gea (6.47) has one of the worst ratings, while Dean Henderson hasn't made enough appearances to come into consideration, though his rating of 6.70 means he would have missed out regardless.
Toby Alderweireld (6.92) is the only Spurs representative in the defence and the experienced Belgian partners Harry Maguire (7.07) at the back. Aaron Wan-Bissaka (7.12) is the deserved right-back in the side, while Luke Shaw (7.04) completes the defence, with Sergio Reguilon (6.89) missing out.
The two deep-lying midfielders in this XI are international teammates as Paul Pogba (6.99) partners Tanguy Ndombele (7.02). This promises to be a key battle in today's meeting, with the former's rating ensuring Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (6.97) doesn't feature.
Bruno Fernandes (7.51) unsurprisingly stars behind a striker, who is the highest rated player of the two teams. Harry Kane (7.82) has been exceptional in Engand's top tier this term and the pair are the only players to have registered double figures for both goals and assists in the Premier League this season.
Flanking the star pair is Marcus Rashford (7.19) and Son Heung-Min (7.27). Rashford has linked up superbly with Fernandes this season, but their partnership is blown out of the water by Son's relationship with Kane. Indeed, the Spurs pair have the record for the most goal contributions between two players having combined for 14 league goals in 2020/21.
