Liverpool vs Manchester City - Combined XI | Premier League 2021-22
All eyes will be on Anfield tomorrow when Liverpool host defending champions Manchester City in the Premier League in what promises to be an epic encounter.
Hailed as the 'English El Clasico', the two sides have traded top-flight league titles in the last four years. They currently lead the pack in the 2021-22 season too. Liverpool are top of the pile with 14 points from six games, whilst also holding the distinction of being the only unbeaten side in the league now.
City, meanwhile, have bounced back spectacularly from their opening-day loss to Tottenham Hotspur. They have won four of their next five games to sit just below Jurgen Klopp's troops. The two teams witnessed contrasting fortunes in Europe in midweek, though, with Liverpool winning 5-1 at Porto, while City lost 2-0 at PSG.
So City will look to make amends and return to winning ways. The Sky Blues have fond memories from their last visit to the red half of Merseyside, winning 4-1, their first win at the stadium since 2003.
They'll both go down as two of the greatest managers in the @premierleague...
But who'd you rather have at the helm?
#LIVMCI https://t.co/uUFS2DLSt8
Liverpool, then, were in freefall, but with a fit and firing squad now, they have looked like title contenders again. So a repeat of their Anfield capitulation this weekend against City is unlikely.
On that note, ahead of the mouth-watering clash, here's a look at how the two teams would stack up in a hypothetical combined XI:
Goalkeeper - Ederson (Manchester City)
This position was arguably the most difficult to choose. Both Alisson and Ederson are the kings of the modern game, excelling in the Premier League for a while.
Even in the current season, the Brazilian legends are leading everyone else in the Premier League in terms of clean sheets recorded. While Ederson has recorded five, Alisson has registered four.
Ederson gets the nod because of his superior consistency compared to his Liverpool counterpart. He has been the epitome of consistency for City for a while now. He recently recorded his 100th clean sheet for the Sky Blues.
Ederson has now kept a total of ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฌ clean sheets for #ManCity! https://t.co/iEbdbCaBee
City's 1-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur has been the only occasion this season where Ederson was beaten. He has kept five consecutive clean sheets in the league since that game.
An excellent reader of the game with impressive distribution skills, the 28-year-old has a commanding presence in the air. Ederson can make high claims easily or punch incoming crosses away, and could be a handful against Liverpool too.