Man Utd – Tottenham combined XI includes no Ratcliffe signings ...
Manchester United host Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday. These two are very evenly matched and that reflects in our combined XI.
GK: Andre Onana (Manchester United)
It’s quite close between Onana and Guglielmo Vicario but the Man Utd man gets the nod. He cost the Red Devils more points than he won in the Champions League and the Tottenham man didn’t really cost his new side any points, but since both arrived in England last summer, we have been more impressed with the Cameroonian.
To be honest, this was a 50-50 so if you disagree that is fair enough.
RB: Pedro Porro (Tottenham)
Porro is usually unlucky to be snubbed in these when up against other clubs in the big six but he comfortably gets in ahead of Noussair Mazraoui.
His transfer to Spurs was a confusing one considering he was signed by Antonio Conte and appeared to be an out-and-out wing-back. Conte’s departure was inevitable and his future at the club seemed to depend on what formation the next manager wanted to play.
When Ange Postecoglou joined, it felt like Porro would not get much of a chance as a right-back but he has been first choice there and has barely put a foot wrong. He has probably been the most consistent performer in Postecoglou’s team.
CB: Cristian Romero (Tottenham)
Another very consistent player at Spurs is World Cup winner Romero. He has played every minute for the Londoners this season and last term, Spurs only won one of the five he missed, losing at Wolves, at home to Aston Villa, and being thumped by Brighton.
Out of every centre-back at both clubs, Romero is comfortably the best.
CB: Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United)
Romero partners his Argentina teammate Martinez at the back. This position was pretty tough. Matthijs de Ligt could easily get in, as could Micky van de Ven. Ultimately, we have gone with Romero and Martinez.
Man Utd are definitely a worse team without Martinez and they probably wouldn’t have won the FA Cup had he not returned for the final, which ultimately saved Erik ten Hag’s job and got the club into Europe.
LB: Diogo Dalot (Manchester United)
Destiny Udogie is very unfortunate to miss out but Dalot’s ability to perform in an incohesive side makes him our first choice in left-back.
It will be interesting to see what happens when Luke Shaw returns from injury. He will surely get back in Ten Hag’s starting XI and if he does, we imagine Dalot will move over to right-back and Mazraoui will drop to the bench. Dropping the Portuguese would be very harsh.
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CM: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
Man Utd captain Fernandes walks into this team, as he usually does with our combined XIs. And as we always say, love him or hate him, he’s a terrific footballer.
CM: Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United)
Spurs fans will probably disagree with Mainoo over Yves Bissouma but here we are. Is it English bias? No, I’m Scottish? Is it bias against one team or the other? No, I hate them both.
Mainoo is a fantastic young player and if Manuel Ugarte can find his feet, we will get to see the very best of him.
CM: James Maddison (Tottenham)
After a streak of Man Utd players, we are back discussing a Tottenham star. That star is Maddison, who scored his first goal of the season in last weekend’s victory at home to Brentford.
Maddison only has five goals in a Spurs shirt but his 11 assists is a solid return in 36 appearances. Postecoglou’s side suffered without the England international last season after an incredible start to life at the club. He did quite well when he returned but Maddison’s output – as it tends to do – waned in the latter stages of the season. Spurs will hope that isn’t the case again in 2024/25.
RW: Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United)
Garnacho has not got properly up and running this season but he is still Man Utd’s best attacker. The competition isn’t great, to be fair.
LW: Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
Son has blown hot and cold under Postecoglou but is still an easy decision in most combined XIs we do.
He only has two goals in seven appearances this season but will benefit from having Dominic Solanke in the attack with him, while Brennan Johnson is scoring goals for fun at the minute.
ST: Dominic Solanke (Tottenham)
There are three strikers to choose from: Solanke, Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee. We think it was pretty straightforward to go with the Spurs man, who has proven he can score regularly in Our League.
Last season, he found the back of the net 19 times in the top flight and has two in two for Spurs – who paid a club-record fee to sign him from Bournemouth in the summer – going into the clash at Old Trafford.
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