A combined Arsenal and Tottenham XI
Tottenham host their great North London rivals Arsenal this Saturday in another crucial derby. It wasn't so long ago that Arsenal could expect to always be the favorites against their arch-rivals, but contests have been much more contested in recent times. In fact, as it stands, Tottenham find themselves 4 points and 1 place above Arsenal in the Premier League table.
It says a lot about Mauricio Pochettino's team and their inconsistency that Arsenal are so close to them, despite a frustrating campaign for Arsene Wenger with many fans repeatedly calling for his resignation.
Arsenal, of course, made some stellar signings in the January transfer window, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan should be expected to make their North London derby debuts this weekend.
Under the gaze of a large and ferocious crowd at Wembley, it will be fascinating to see how Wenger's new-look team cope against Tottenham's finely-tuned side.
With 1 day to go, it's interesting to consider who would make it into a combined starting XI between the two clubs: where once Arsenal wold have dominated such a fantasy side, Tottenham have the strongest squad these days and the lineup should be more balanced between red and white.
On that note, this slideshow will lay out the best XI consisting of players who will feature in the North London derby:
Formation: 4-4-2 (Diamond)
Goalkeeper
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur)
Arsenal's Petr Cech is indisputably one of the Premier League's finest ever goalkeepers, a legend at Chelsea for his many years there. He joined Arsenal in 2015 and has made almost 100 league appearances for them, but, at 35, his best years are now behind him. Mistakes have seeped into his usually solid game, notably against Swansea a few weeks ago.
Hugo Lloris, on the other hand, is firmly at his peak and captains and commands his side from the back. The Frenchman has been one of Europe's best goalkeepers for years now, perhaps in the top 5, and is a modern-day all-rounder: he's an excellent shot-stopper with great reflexes but he's also decent distributing the ball with his feet.
Lloris is the type of goalkeeper that instils confidence in his defence as they know they can trust him in one-on-one situations. Cech still can be great on his day, but this season, Lloris has definitely been the better goalkeeper.