Sky Sports XI vs BT Sport XI match imagined as Carragher digs out pundit team

BT Sport and Sky Sports pundits are not afraid of talking the talk, but have you ever wondered who would walk the walk in a football match between the two rival broadcasters?

Both channels have a variety of big-name ex-professionals among their ranks, including Roy Keane and Gary Neville at Sky and Michael Owen and Rio Ferdinand at BT. After Jamie Carragher called out the latter lot on Twitter in a now deleted tweet, it got us wondering who would come out on top in a head-to-head match-up.

Daily Star Sport is on hand to provide a position by position breakdown of where the game would be won and lost and assess who would claim the spoils at the end of it all. It's Sky Sports vs BT Sport…and it's live!

Goalkeepers – Matt Murray (Sky) vs Rachel Brown-Finnis (BT)

Both broadcasters are pretty thin on the ground when it comes to goalkeepers, but Matt Murray and Rachel Brown-Finnish both pop up enough to warrant inclusion in this fantasy match.

While the two ex-shot stoppers provide valuable contributions to their respective channels, there can only be one winner in a head-to-head battle; Brown-Finnis. The 41-year-old won 81 caps for England between 1997 and 2013 and appeared at multiple World Cups, plus the 2012 Olympics for Great Britain.

Murray might be a Wolves hero, but an injury-interrupted career and only one appearance for England at U21 level means it's Brown-Finnis who gets the nod from us.

Who do you think would come out on top in a football match between BT Sport and Sky Sports pundits? Let us know in the comments section.

Defenders: Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville, Micah Richards (Sky) vs Rio Ferdinand, Martin Keown, Joleon Lescott (BT)

Now, this is where things start to get interesting. Owing to the number of defenders available for selection, we've had to get a little bit creative with the formations. But as this is a fantastical idea, and not at all serious, that shouldn't be a problem.

For Sky, we have the iconic trio of Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville and Micah Richards. While for BT, Rio Ferdinand, Martin Keown and Joleon Lescott are their representatives.

The first thing to note is that aside from the fact Neville and Richards are going to have to play slightly out of position (sorry, lads), there are an impressive 286 England caps on show between the six players. Granted, 166 of those come from Ferdinand and Neville alone, but it's an excellent standard nonetheless.

Assessing their comparative merits as a defensive trio, though, is difficult. Both sides feature two genuine Premier League or England legends in Carragher and Neville and Ferdinand and Keown, plus a very good third member in Richards and Lescott.

But, taking into account the three at the back scenario, which we admittedly are responsible for, and the fact that Carragher, Neville and Richards might be too busy having a laugh with each other than defending, it's a difficult one to call.

Ferdinand and Keown were both rock-solid central defensive stalwarts in their day, while Lescott was if we're being brutally honest, better and more reliable than Richards. But it's hard to escape the Neville and Carragher partnership and the camaraderie that Richards, and for that reason, Sky come out on top here.

Midfielders: Jamie Redknapp, Roy Keane, Graeme Souness, Chris Kamara, Lee Hendrie (Sky) vs Steve McManaman, Owen Hargreaves, Paul Scholes, Robbie Savage, Joe Cole (BT)

On punditry alone, Sky Sports would win the midfield battle hands down. Super Sunday cornerstones Graeme Souness, Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp are unbeatable viewing, while Chris Kamara is a Soccer Saturday legend and Lee Hendrie more than holds his own when it comes to the EFL.

However, we're not talking about just punditry here. We're talking about who would win on a football pitch. And while Redknapp, Keane and Souness were box office players in their day, Kamara and Hendrie, as good as they were, never quite reached the same heights.

So with that in mind, we're forced to away victory to BT Sport. Unlike Sky, who arguably have too many of the same type of player, BT have a more balanced side with the likes of Owen Hargreaves, Paul Scholes, Steve McManaman and Joe Cole.

There's not a lot you can do about Robbie Savage (only joking, Robbie), but there's a good chance he'd wind up Souness and Keane and get one of them sent off, which would further work in BT's favour. Taking all of those ultra-serious criteria into account, it's the channel of Jake Humphrey that gets the nod.

Strikers: Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink, Paul Merson (Sky) vs Peter Crouch, Michael Owen (BT)

Strange though it may seem, Sky don't have any elite level former strikers on their punditry books. The likes of Clinton Morrison, Neil Mellor, Kris Boyd and Paul Merson are all Soccer Saturday stalwarts, but none of them were ever in that top bracket of striker.

With that in mind, it's Merse – 127 goals in 626 career appearances – and semi-regular Super Sunday guest Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink, who share scoring duties for the Isleworth side. Hasselbaink was a genuine world class talent, but he's lucky to make it in given he's not a Sky regular. Mind you, his presence might be needed if Keane and Redknapp start going at it in the midfield.

Lining up against them, it's iconic former Liverpool duo Michael Owen and Peter Crouch, rekindling the age old little and (very) large partnership. Owen might have had a disappointing end to his career, but he was one of the very best around in his day, even winning the Ballon d'Or in 2001.

And while Crouch didn't exactly reach those levels, he was an ever-reliable goalscoring presence for a clutch of clubs, including Portsmouth, Tottenham, Stoke and, of course, Liverpool. The 6ft 7in beanpole also impressed for England, scoring 22 goals in only 42 games for the national side between 2005 and 2010.

The two former Anfield favourites would undoubtedly make for a great partnership up front, and with that in mind, it's they, and not the London-based duo of Merson and Hasselbaink, who take the final set of honours.

Verdict

Although BT Sport have won the positional battle 3-1, none of our decisions were particularly clear cut. Sky arguably boasts the better standard of individual player, with the likes of Keane, Souness and Neville, but collectively BT come across as a much stronger group.

How an actual game between the two sets of pundits would end up, however, is anyone's guess. Taking everything into account, we reckon the sides would probably play out an entertaining score draw, with one red card apiece for Keane and Savage. Whether it ever happens, though, remains to be seen.

Source: Read Full Article