Glen Johnson has snubbed Alisson Becker, Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane in his combined Chelsea and Liverpool XI ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.
The Reds take on Thomas Tuchel’s side at Wembley on Sunday afternoon in the first domestic cup final of the season.
Liverpool currently sit 10 points ahead of Chelsea in the Premier League table, having won their last six top-flight games.
But despite having one of the best defensive records in Europe over the last few seasons, Johnson has opted for Edouard Mendy over Alisson.
While in midfield, former Reds defender Johnson has opted against including Jordan Henderson in his starting line-up.
And Johnson has also given the nod to Hakim Ziyech and Luis Diaz over Mane, despite the Senegal international scoring 11 times in the Premier League this season.
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“I’d probably go for Edouard Mendy in goal, but I could’ve easily picked Alisson, they’re both world class and as good as each other, so that’s an easy decision as it doesn’t matter which goalkeeper it is,” the former right-back told bettingexpert.com.
“Back four, I’d go for Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Antonio Rudiger and Andy Robertson. I’d be quite happy to have Reece James in there, but in a final when it’s going to be tight, with Trent you’re going to get deliveries, set-pieces and free-kicks.
“No one is going to win this game three or four nil. Someone is going to win by one goal and sometimes you’re going to need that extra bit of magic to unlock it, so that’s probably why I’d go for Trent.
“In midfield I’d go for N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount and Fabinho. Up top I’d have Hakim Ziyech, Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz [over Sadio Mane]. Diaz clearly has confidence and he’s hit the ground running and he doesn’t look fazed at all.
“You want all the confidence players playing in these big games. So on this occasion I’d start Diaz over Mane. Mane is so explosive and if he comes on with 30 minutes to go, he could change the game.”
Johnson's team in full is as follows: Mendy, Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Rudiger, Robertson, Fabinho, Kante, Mount, Ziyech, Salah, Diaz.
While the former England international also believes that Kai Havertz should start over Romelu Lukaku at Wembley as Chelsea are a 'bit more dynamic and fluid' when the German plays.
He said: “I personally wouldn’t start Lukaku. Chelsea are a bit more dynamic and fluid when they’ve got Havertz floating around as the false nine as opposed to Lukaku.
“Havertz is an intelligent player, they’ve got a lot of intelligent players and they seem to click a lot more when you just let them get on with it.
“Sometimes when Lukaku plays, they’re a bit too rigid. It looks to me like Lukaku is lacking in confidence. He’s a bloody good player.
“He’s scored goals for fun throughout his career and you don’t lose your quality overnight. So I’m not too concerned, but at the minute he’s just lacking in confidence.
“For strikers to be scoring at will, they thrive off confidence.”
