Fans criticise Jeff Stelling’s ‘shocking’ choices as he names his bizarre starting XI for England’s opening Euro 2024 clash against Serbia with three key stars left out

Jeff Stelling has left fans stunned with his starting line-up for England’s opening match against Serbia.

Ahead of Sunday’s highly anticipated match, the talkSPORT presenter was asked which players he would pick.

Stelling’s selection can certainly be described as daring, as he chose to leave three key players out of his team.

England will be aiming to do one better than Euro 2020, when Italy were defeated on penalties in the final.

In addition to Serbia, the Three Lions will also face Denmark and Slovenia in Group C.

The talkSPORT presenter made some bold choices ahead of the opening match of the European Championship in England

Stelling has surprisingly chosen to leave John Stones, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka out of his team.

The presenter opted for a central-defensive partnership of Marc Guehi and Lewis Dunk, who together have seventeen caps for the national team.

Stones has been troubled by injuries this season, with Stelling justifying his negligence by highlighting his lack of physicality when faced with the challenge of Serbia.

“First of all, Serbia is the biggest team in the tournament, the highest team in the tournament,” Stelling said talkSPORT.

“They’ll be physical, they’ll be aggressive.

“John Stones has taken a beating, he’s not physical, he’s not aggressive. He is great on the ball.

“I’m worried about us in the air for set plays, so I put Lewis Dunk in because he’s 6ft tall, he dominates in the air.”

Stelling also called on Anthony Gordon to start wide ahead of Phil Foden, while Cole Palmer earned the nod over Saka on the right flank.

The full XI of Position reads: Pickford, Walker, Guehi, Dunk, Trippier, Alexander-Arnold, Rice, Palmer, Bellingham, Gordon and Kane.

One fan criticized Stelling as they wrote: ‘This team would be washed!’.

Another commented: “What is that?”

John Stones, who is struggling with an injury, was left out of Stelling’s proposed team

Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden were also missing from Stelling’s line-up for the opening match

Meanwhile, another fan claimed it would be ‘the funniest experience of all time’ if such a line-up was mentioned.

They wrote: ‘Please play this, it would be the funniest experience of all time.’

Another fan wrote: “This is actually shocking.”

Furthermore, another fan stated: ‘Well thank God Jeff Stelling isn’t the England manager.’