Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville have picked their Premier League teams of the season as the campaign draws to a close.
There are just a handful of matches left in the top flight this term – with everything more or less wrapped up in terms of achievements, other than the Champions League race.
Liverpool have been runaway champions, with their closest challengers, Arsenal, also securing Champions League football for next season following their win over Newcastle on Sunday.
That leaves the Magpies, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest to battle it out for the remaining three positions on the final day – with some having better seasons than others in terms of their own standards.
And ahead of the final day, Sky regulars Neville and Carragher gave out their end of season awards, as well as their teams of the season.
Their XIs caused some debate between the duo, with presenter Dave Jones at times having to play peacekeeper and calm the debates.
Jamie Carragher (left) and Gary Neville (right) picked out their end of season awards on the final Monday Night Football of the season
They agreed on five players in their best XIs of the season, including two Liverpool stars
They also both agreed that the Reds’ Mohamed Salah is the league’s player of the campaign
The pundits agreed on five players in their sides, which were listed in 4-3-3 formations. One of those players was Daniel Munoz at right back – who Carragher hailed as ‘outstanding’.
He added: ‘It is not recency bias. I put seven or eight of my team in the group chat before the cup final. I have been impressed with him every time I see him play. You think about Manchester United with this system, he is perfect.’
Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest’s Nikola Milenkovic got the not in defence alongside Liverpool’s title-winning captain Virgil van Dijk.
While there were no agreements in midfield, both former players had Mohamed Salah on the right of attack and Newcastle’s Alexander Isak leading the line.
Neville went first with the remaining players, picking Matz Sels in goal. In his justification, he explained: ‘I would have gone for Alisson or (David) Raya in the past. But Sels is up there for the clean sheet record and they have had such a special season.’
He picked out Liverpool target Milos Kerkez at left back, accepting that the Reds are likely to buy him.
Youri Tielemans got the nod in midfield, alongside Bruno Guimaraes and Ryan Gravenberch. ‘I really like Villa and Newcastle as teams,’ he said. ‘The way they play football. A bit more imperfect in the way they see the game. There is a lot electricity in the wide players.
‘Guimaraes has such an influence on them. Declan Rice could have been in there, but those two players deserve to be in there.
The duo agreed on Daniel Munoz at right back – who Carragher said would be ‘perfect’ for Manchester United, who like Crystal Palace play with a system using attacking wing backs
Alexander Isak – who is currently injured – got the nod up front in both pundits’ sides
Liverpool target Milos Kerkez, 21, was picked out at left back by Neville – despite the Man United legend voting for Arsenal star Myles Lewis-Skelly, 18, as his Young player of the Year
There was also a spot for Youri Tielemans in Neville’s side as he lauded Aston Villa’s play
On the left, Bryan Mbeumo was selected, with Neville pointing to ‘stats’ and how he is ‘special’, acknowledging he could have had Matheus Cunha or Morgan Rogers in that position.
Carragher also chose a Magpies midfielder, but picked out one of Guimaraes’ partners. ‘I went for (Sandro) Tonali because Newcastle look like they are going to finish third and they had a poor start to the season,’ he said. ‘I don’t think it turned around until Eddie Howe put him in the holding role. Him going to sitting midfield made a huge difference.’
Perhaps surprisingly, he left out Gravenberch, going for his midfield partner too, alongside Declan Rice.
‘I was debating Gravenberch,’ he said. ‘Probably what swung is what how dominant Newcastle were in the cup final.
‘(Alexis ) Mac Allister has been Liverpool’s best midfield player this season. In terms of quality in Liverpool’s midfield – he has been the best for two years.’
On the left, he raised eyebrows with the selection of Morgan Gibbs-White. ‘I think the league is missing a world class left winger,’ he explained. ‘(Cody) Gakpo and (Luis) Diaz are not Sadio Mane or Eden Hazard.
‘He could play there. Pep Guardiola likes him and that will do for me.’
Carragher and Neville clashed over the inclusion of Gibbs-White, while the former Liverpool man questioned how his colleague could pick Myles Lewis-Skelly – his choice – as young player of the year but then put Kerkez in his team ahead of the Arsenal man.
Neville included Ryan Gravenberch (left) after his stellar campaign at Anfield, but Carragher instead opted for the Dutchman’s midfield team-mate, Alexis Mac Allister (centre)
Carragher’s inclusion of Morgan Gibbs-White raised debate with Neville, who disagreed with the central midfielder’s inclusion on the wing – as presenter Dave Jones played peacekeeper
Carragher picked four Liverpool players in total as he included shot-stopper Alisson in goal
Neville picked out Bryan Mbeumo on the left as both pundits struggled to fill the position
They also gave out a number of individual end of season awards before picking their best XIs
Elsewhere, both pundits picked Salah as their player of the season and Lewis-Skelly as their young player of the season.
Neville gave Arne Slot the best newcomer award, but voted for Nuno Espirito Santo as the manager of the season. Carragher gave it to Slot, while they agreed on Gravenberch as the most improved player of the campaign.
Manchester United got the vote from both pundits as the biggest underachievers of the season, with Gary Neville saying that winning the Europa League would be a ‘silver lining in a dark cloud’.
‘To be where they are in the league is incredible,’ he added, before lauding the imminent signing of Cunha.
In terms of their favourite games, Carragher, despite being a Liverpool legend, gave it to the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park – which saw James Tarkowski score a dramatic last-minute equaliser – while Neville also chose a game that Reds fans would prefer to forget – the League Cup final.
‘It was a high point,’ he joked, as Carragher proclaimed: ‘Did you hear him on commentary?’
Neville eventually went onto praise Newcastle and their fans as he hailed an ‘incredible day’.
