Jeff Stelling's England XI has fans thinking he's been hacked as three stars dropped

Jeff Stelling sparked uproar on the week of England’s Euro 2024 opening fixture against Serbia with a bizarre team selection. Gareth Southgate’s men will take to the field on Sunday in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, where they hope to make a statement start.

Southgate’s 26-man squad selection last week already caused a stir, with several big names like Jack Grealish and Harry Maguire being left out. With a few of his selected players also facing injury doubts, the manager will certainly have a headache in picking his starting XI.

Sky Sports Soccer Saturday Stelling has now waded into the debate by providing his own solution in the form of a starting-XI. Yet his rather innovative approach did not go down well with England fans on social media.

Stelling audaciously dropped Manchester City's John Stones to the bench in favour of Brighton's Lewis Dunk, pairing him with the inexperienced Marc Guehi. He justified it by pointing to the imposing stature of the Serbian team.

Stelling explained on talkSPORT Breakfast: "Serbia are the biggest team in the tournament, the tallest team in the tournament. They are going to be physical, they are going to be aggressive.

"John Stones has picked up a knock, he's not physical, he's not aggressive, so I've put Lewis Dunk in there."

His full-backs Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier, and Jordan Pickford as goalkeeper, are far more likely to be Southgate's own picks. Stelling offered no rationale for playing Trent Alexander-Arnold, typically a right-back, in central midfield alongside Declan Rice.

But his pick for England's front three sparked the most heated debate among fans as he snubbed Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden, opting instead for Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon to flank Harry Kane. The radio host said: "My front three is going to be a bit controversial. I'm going to pick [Cole] Palmer just ahead of Bukayo Saka.

"Saka's had a bit of a knock, not quite back up to 100 per cent. I think Palmer showed enough against Iceland. But Foden, four goals in 34 games for England. I think Gareth Southgate and his staff are scratching their heads as to how to get the best out of Phil Foden for England."

Fans were quick to voice their disapproval on social media, with one fan tweeting: "That CB pairing will lose us this tournament. Defence is shocking," while another wrote: "Unbelievable Jeff, no Saka."

A third fumed: "This is exactly why Jeff Stelling doesn't get to pick the England side.” while a fourth pointed out: "This XI wins zero games."

Others argued: "That defence stinks," and: "Yeah that should do it, drop your best defender, your player of the season AND your best winger in years."