Paul Pogba is the surprise inclusion in the PFA team of the year, with the Manchester United midfielder the only player not from Manchester City or Liverpool to make the XI.
Pogba, who leads United in both goals and assists this season, has endured another tough campaign as he fell out with former United manager Jose Mourinho in the first half of the season and has seen his form dip over the past month after enjoying a fresh start when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over the manager’s role in December.
The team, announced on Thursday, has City’s Ederson as goalkeeper, with team-mate Aymeric Laporte joined by three Liverpool players in the back-line: Virgil van Dijk, right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, and left-back Andrew Robertson.
Pogba is joined by City duo Fernandinho and Bernardo Silva in midfield, with the Citizens’ Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero, and Liverpool’s Sadio Mane comprising the front three.
Chelsea‘s Eden Hazard and Liverpool star Mohamed Salah are among the controversial snubs, while Tottenham centre-back Toby Alderweireld and forward Son Heung-min are also notable exclusions.
This year’s XI contains nine players who make the team for the first time, with Aguero and Mane the only ones to have been named previously.
The PFA Premier League #TOTY! #PFAawards
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Meanwhile, Van Dijk is set to beat Sterling to this season’s PFA Player of the Year award, according to reports.
The official announcement will be made on Sunday during the PFA’s awards gala but the Daily Mail reported on Wednesday night that the Dutch centre-back had gotten the nod for his key role in Liverpool’s hunt for a first Premier League title since 1990.
That title charge took a blow on Wednesday when Sterling’s City won the Manchester derby, beating United 2-0 to go top of the league table by a point with three games remaining.
It was thought that Sterling’s efforts in helping City potentially become the first team to successfully defend their league title since United managed the feat in 2009 would help him surge ahead of Van Dijk in the final reckoning, not least because of his increasingly vocal stance against racism this season along with his on-pitch brilliance.
Van Dijk would become the first defender to win the award since Chelsea’s John Terry in 2004/05.
