Liverpool vs Manchester City Combined XI

Ahead of the most anticipated Match of the Round, we bring to you a combined starting XI of both teams.

Starting XI (4-3-3): Ederson, Walker, Kompany, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fernadinho, Silva, Debruyne, Salah, Mane, Firmino
Ederson has kept 14 clean sheets in 31 league matches this term and has proved to be one of the key members of City's treble-chasing side. There is no doubt that Loris Karius has thrived on being given a regular run in the Liverpool side over Simon Mignolet, but his stats still fall some way short of Ederson 's.
The sides both have an outstanding full-back in their ranks, meanwhile, with Kyle Walker and
Andrew Robertson - at different stages of their Prem careers - playing a direct part in seven and four goals respectively in all competitions. More than the assist figures alone, though, the two men have the ability to get up and down the flank with ease and create chances galore, seeing them get the nod over the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Oleksandr Zinchenko .
Key to Liverpool's recent improvement at the back has been the record signing of Virgil van Dijk from Southampton, and he would surely only look even better partnered alongside a fit Vincent Kompany , as opposed to Dejan Lovren or Joel Matip .
Both teams tend to go with three men in central midfield, and this is where City undoubtedly come out on top. For while the likes of James Milner ,
Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum , Emre Can and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all have their own qualities, they lack the defensive nous of
Fernandinho and do not come close to matching
Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva in a creative sense. In fact, it could be argued that the Citizens' back-up options in Bernardo Silva and
Ilkay Gundogan would also make it into Liverpool's XI.
If City are to dominate the midfield three then it is only right the Reds' forward trio monopolise the forward line. There is an argument to be had that
Sergio Aguero - a ruled out for Wednesday's game - would thrive in this hybrid side, while
Raheem Sterling has enjoyed his best campaign in front of goal yet and Leroy Sane has also emerged as one of the finest young talents on the continent. However, Sadio Mane , Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane work perfectly together - they have 19 goals in the Champions League alone - with Pep Guardiola admitting ahead of the game that they are 'almost impossible' to stop.

Credit: SportsMole