Sky Sports pundit excludes Dembele in combined Tottenham and Man United XI
By Danny Wright
Sky Sports pundit Phil Thompson has opted to exclude Mousa Dembele in a combined Tottenham and Manchester United team ahead of their clash at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
The fixture will be the final game to be hosted at The Lane before it is demolished to make way for Spurs’ new home.
Dembele is perhaps the most notable omission in Thompson’s XI of players that are fit to play, despite the Belgian international’s strong performances in Mauricio Pochettino’s midfield this season.
Instead, the former Liverpool centre-back opted for Ander Herrera for his decent season at Old Trafford.
“You need a holding midfielder and Victor Wanyama has been superb, then I’ve gone for Ander Herrera just ahead of Mousa Dembele. He’s done especially well in proving his worth to Mourinho and has shown his willing to put a foot in,” said the 63-year-old on the Sky Sports website.
Other Tottenham exclusions from Thompson’s squad are Eric Dier, Hugo Lloris, Kyle Walker and Son Heung-Min while Danny Rose is picked over Ben Davies as he is in line to return from injury.
David De Gea is Thompon’s choice in goal with a back four of Antonio Valencia, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Rose.
Wanyama, Christian Eriksen, Herrera and, unsurprisingly, Dele Alli lined up in midfield as Marcus Rashford is picked alongside Harry Kane in attack.
Man United’s notable exclusions are Paul Pogba and Henrik Mkhitaryan while Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not included because he is currently out injured.
Tottenham know that their hopes of a maiden Premier League title could be already over by Sunday and Chelsea can secure the championship with a win at West Brom on Friday night.
In other Tottenham news, Graham Roberts has made a plea to Sky Sports ahead of the United clash.
We’ve launched a << BREAKING NEWS FEED>> exclusively for your club. ‘Like Us’ on Facebook by clicking here if you want 24/7 updates on all Tottenham breaking news.