Mohamed Salah, Christian Eriksen and Sergio Aguero feature
Tuesday 6 August 2019 15:29, UK
Ahead of the new Premier League season, Sky Games are giving you the chance to win £100k - but who makes it into your Ultimate XI? Here are Phil Thompson's picks...
You are the manager and you are in charge of your Ultimate XI for the first game week of the season? Will you claim the £100,000 jackpot prize for picking the Ultimate XI?
Ederson; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Aymeric Laporte; David Silva, Fernandinho, Christian Eriksen, Kevin de Bruyne; Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero.
The Sky Games area on Sky Sports is the home of Super 6 and Sky Sports Fantasy Football.
I have to go with Ederson because of his passing and distribution. It was a toss-up between him and Alisson. Manchester City essentially use him as an outfield player so he will pick the passes up and hopefully claim bonus points.
You have to look at the amount of assists that Trent Alexander-Arnold racked up last year, so it is hard to look anywhere else.
Van Dijk and Laporte are great at building from the back and starting attacks, so I would expect them to pick up bonus points against the teams they are playing on the opening weekend respectively, just as they did on 43 occasions last year (tier two passing).
As well as David Silva chipping in with assists, Fernandinho is there to break up the play. He is a major cog in the Manchester City machine, particularly with the rotation of the ball in midfield.
He was and has been the best at it in the Premier League over the past few years, so I think he will still start. Now Rodri has come in and Fernandinho is 35, Pep Guardiola is in that position where he is looking for the next Fernandinho, which is quite a compliment for the Brazilian.
Christian Eriksen was not at his best last season yet still notched eight goals and chalked up 12 assists. He has acted like a model professional throughout pre-season and I expect this to continue come the opening weekend.
My team revolves around possession, with assists throughout... I'm pleased with how it's looking!
You tick all boxes with those strikers, in particular Harry Kane - I think he will be back to his best after his injury-hit campaign of last year. Aguero will always be up there for the Premier League Golden Boot and so will Salah.
