England XI based on Sky Sports Fantasy Football stats: Tom Cleverley in, Jordan Henderson out

By Amee Ruszkai

Monday 13 November 2017 06:28, UK

We look at who should be in Gareth Southgate's starting line-up based on Sky Sports Fantasy Football stats.

From the Premier League campaign so far, Jordan Henderson has been edged out by his Watford counterpart Tom Cleverley, who has been performing better than the Liverpool captain this season.

Nick Pope also gets the nod after a string of impressive displays for Burnley, while Joe Gomez, Harry Maguire and Jamie Vardy also all make the line-up based on their form after the opening 11 games of the Premier League season.

Here's the XI in full and their key stats...

Nick Pope (£5.5m) - 60 points

Criticism of Joe Hart means the position between the sticks is one of the most hotly debated in this England team, but the statistics quite convincingly point to a man not in Southgate's squad - Nick Pope.

Pope has more than double the points of both Jack Butland and Jordan Pickford, and 19 more than Hart, having kept four clean sheets and collected two Sky Sports man-of-the-match awards since Tom Heaton's injury.

John Stones (£8.9m) - 74 points

Despite having no goals or assists to his name, John Stones in the fourth-highest scoring defender this season - coming out on top for his nationality.

Harry Kane is the only Englishman to score higher, with the Manchester City man awarded eight passing bonuses in just 10 starts.

Phil Jones (£7.5m) - 69 points

One of the surprise scorers of the season, Phil Jones also makes the XI without any goals or assists.

Manchester United's eight clean sheets are key to that, while he has also received one man-of-the-match award, pass bonus and tackle bonus this term.

Harry Maguire (£7.4m) - 54 points

Harry Maguire completes the back three, ahead of fellow squad members Gary Cahill and Michael Keane.

Three assists and a goal are largely responsible for that, helping him to a total of 54 points that neither Cahill (20) or Keane (14) come anywhere near.

Kyle Walker (£9.5m) - 69 points

Kyle Walker beats out former club-mate Kieran Trippier to the right wing-back role, having accumulated 16 more points than the Tottenham man this season.

That's largely thanks to Manchester City's six clean sheets edging out Spurs' four, with the pair tied on four assists apiece and both without a goal yet this season.

Joe Gomez (£6.5m) - 53 points

In the senior squad for the first time, the versatile Joe Gomez gets the nod at left-back in this XI, eight points ahead of Ryan Bertrand.

Danny Rose will be competing for the left wing-back spot against Brazil and Germany, but injuries meant he didn't come close here, with just seven points to his name after only making his Premier League return at Crystal Palace last week.

Dele Alli (£11.6m) - 45 points

Statistics suggest the injured Dele Alli will be a huge miss this week, as he comes out as the highest scoring English midfielder in Sky Sports Fantasy Football.

Three goals and two assists have seen him return a healthy 45 points, with him also collecting a tackle bonus in the Liverpool win.

Tom Cleverley (£7.7m) - 40 points

The most surprising inclusion in this team is undoubtedly Tom Cleverley, who sits well above many of the names in Southgate's squad for Sky Sports Fantasy Football points.

Eric Dier (30 points), Jack Cork (28), Jake Livermore (18) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek (16) all fail to challenge Cleverley for the spot, with Swansea's Tom Carroll (30) closer than the latter three.

The injured Henderson (38) is also just behind the Watford man, whose nearest competition for the place actually came from Michail Antonio (39).

Raheem Sterling (£9.8m) - 64 points

Raheem Sterling was the first winger on the team-sheet in this XI, his 64 points putting him some way ahead of Marcus Rashford.

The injured 22-year-old will be some miss for Southgate too. Despite starting just six games in the league, Sterling has seven goals and three assists to his name.

Harry Kane (£12.9m) - 89 points

It's no surprise that Sky Sports Fantasy Football's top-scoring Englishman is Harry Kane, with eight league goals slotting him in at No 9 without question.

Four subsequent man of the match awards put him well ahead of the pack, with Tammy Abraham, called up to the squad for the first time, his nearest challenger on 56 points.

Jamie Vardy (£11.2m) - 50 points

Despite the struggles at Leicester that led to Craig Shakespeare's departure, Jamie Vardy has continued to impress, allowing him to edge out Marcus Rashford for a place in this XI.

His six goals are double the tally of the youngster's, who misses out by a margin of only three points - despite registering three assists to Vardy's none this season.