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Spurs Players Dominate Matt Le Tissier's Combined Man Utd/Tottenham XI

Mikey Traynor
By Mikey Traynor
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There's a big game in the Premier League this weekend, so it's time for another entirely meaningless but at the same time strangely alluring combined XI from a Sky Sports pundit.

Mauricio Pochettino will take his Spurs side to Old Trafford for the Saturday morning kickoff on the back of what would have been a puzzling and disappointing Carabao Cup loss to West Ham, while Jose Mourinho has faced criticism for the manner in which his side has played since losing Paul Pogba to injury, so both sides will be looking to prove a point somewhat.

Matthew of the Le Tissiers was the man given the nod to pick his combined XI this time out, and he elected to go for 7 Spurs players - including the entire back four - in his side.

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Immediately the most controversial choice appears to be Kieran Trippier at right-back ahead of Antonio Valencia, and while it is natural to assume that this is because Tripper's first name is Kieran and not Antonio, Le Tissier made the choice due to his gripe with the crossing style of the Ecuadorian.

At right-back I'm going with Kieran Trippier for one reason and that is quality of delivery in the final third. Antonio Valencia frustrates me with the way he thinks he can cross through people, smashing the ball with his head down.

That is certainly a complaint that has been made of Valencia in the past, and Tripper's 4 assists in the league this season compared to the 0 offered by Valencia would support Le Tissier's reasoning.

Another conundrum the Southampton legend faced was who to pick up front. Determined to go with just the one striker as to suit both clubs' favourite formation in recent times, Le Tiss opted for Harry Kane over Lukauku, a decision he admits he struggled with.

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Harry Kane has to be my striker. Romelu Lukaku has had a cracking start and the two of them are excellent players but I just think Kane's form at the moment and over a longer period of time justifies him getting the nod.

He's unlucky not to get in there, as is Henrikh Mkhitaryan, while Bailly and Valencia were close, but these are two very good sides and I think it will be a really tight encounter on Saturday.

Valencia and Eric Bailly are certainly who most Man Utd fans would put forward in protest at number of Man Utd representatives, but in all honesty Le Tissier has not done a bad job there, although he could probably do without checking his Twitter notifications for the next few days.

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[SkySports.com]

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