Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville preferred Manchester City’s Phil Foden and Chelsea’s Cole Palmer to the Gunners wide attacker.
Premier League icons Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher revealed their Premier League Team of the Season for the 2023-24 season on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, with Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka excluded.
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Foden, Saka or Palmer: Premier League icons choose the best player
The young Englishmen have had excellent campaigns for their clubs, leading to the continued comparison of the trio.
The England international has had a commendable season for Mikel Arteta’s side, notching 16 goals and setting up nine this term to push the Gunners’ title bid.
Saka’s 25 goal contributions are outdone by five players — Ollie Watkins (32), Cole Palmer (31), Erling Haaland (30), Mohamed Salah (28) and Heung-min Son (26) — with the Arsenal man tied with Manchester City's Phil Foden (25) for direct involvements.
However, the former Manchester United and Liverpool defenders omitted the 22-year-old, whose five match-winning goals better all but Palmer and Haaland (both seven).
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Gary Neville’s Premier League TOTS
After the furore over William Saliba and Gabriel's lack of recognition in the recently revealed Premier League Player of the Season nominees list, the former Manchester United right-back included the Arsenal centre-back partnership, with Ben White and Tottenham Hotspur defender Destiny Udogie completing the defence in front of Emiliano Martinez in goal.
Neville's midfield three were Rodri, Declan Rice and Gunners captain Martin Odegaard and his front three saw Palmer and Foden either side of Golden Boot favourite Haaland.
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Jamie Carragher’s Premier League TOTS
The distinct change in Carragher’s team was the retired centre-back opting for a back three instead of a four-player defence. Carragher chose a 3-2-4-1 formation, with Everton’s Jordan Pickford behind a back three of Saliba, Virgil van Dijk and Gabriel and a midfield partnership of Rice and Rodri just ahead.
Behind Haaland in the ex-Liverpool defender’s selection are the quartet of Palmer, Kevin De Bruyne, Odegaard and Foden, with the Belgian playmaker’s inclusion questionable having featured in 16 league games this term.
“No-one loves Kevin De Bruyne more than me - but he's played less than a third of their minutes in the league,” said an astonished Neville. “Less than a third!”
Carragher defended his choice of De Bruyne: “And have you seen how many chances he's created? It basically shows how good a player he is. He's the best player in the league and has been for five years.
"He's played half a season, and his numbers are off the scale. He's creating chances at a higher rate than anyone in the league.”
For their Player of the Year choices, Neville opted for Arsenal's Odegaard while Foden was Carragher's pick.