LONDON • Players from Premier League title-chasers Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur dominated the Professional Football Association's (PFA) team of the year announced on Thursday.
Four players from each club were voted in, with Arsenal, Manchester United and West Ham United the only other clubs represented in the XI.
Tottenham striker Harry Kane, who leads the scoring charts with 24 goals, was joined by Leicester's Jamie Vardy, whose 22 goals have fuelled leaders Leicester's title quest.
Leicester midfielders N'Golo Kante, who made more tackles (149) than any other player in the league this season; Riyad Mahrez, involved in 27 goals this term; and defender Wes Morgan were also included.
Toby Alderweireld and Danny Rose, part of Tottenham's defence which has conceded a league-low 25 goals in 34 matches, made the list, as did 20-year-old midfielder Dele Alli.
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2016 PFA TEAM OF THE YEAR
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David de Gea (Manchester United)
Hector Bellerin (Arsenal)
Wes Morgan (Leicester)
Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham)
Danny Rose (Tottenham)
Riyad Mahrez (Leicester)
Dele Alli (Tottenham)
N'Golo Kante (Leicester)
Dimitri Payet (West Ham)
Jamie Vardy (Leicester)
Harry Kane (Tottenham)
Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea got the nod after keeping 14 clean sheets.
Arsenal full-back Hector Bellerin and West Ham's French playmaker Dimitri Payet make up the team.
The PFA will announce the Player of the Year tomorrow, with Vardy, Kane, Mahrez, Kane, Mesut Oezil and Payet on the shortlist.
Arsenal playmaker Oezil was the only PFA Player of the Year nominee not to make it into the side.
The German has 18 assists and remains on course to break Thierry Henry's single-season record (20).
"It's a surprise to me," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said of Oezil's snub. "It's the players who vote. I don't know why they didn't pick him."
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero was another major absentee, marking the fifth season in a row that the Argentina international has been omitted from the PFA team of the year.
REUTERS
