"Shows how closely matched they are" - Danny Murphy names his Manchester City-Liverpool combined XI

Former England midfielder Danny Murphy has picked his combined XI between Manchester City and Liverpool ahead of their much-anticipated showdown.

Pep Guardiola's side will host Jurgen Klopp's Reds on Sunday at the Etihad in a titanic clash that could determine the outcome of the Premier League title race.

Only one point separates arguably the two top teams in Europe right now and Murphy has admitted that they are 'closely matched'.

The former Reds midfielder, in his The Daily Mail Column, picked his combined XI between the two sides.

🔴 MATCHDAY 🔴

🗓 @ManCity vs @LFC
🏟 Etihad Stadium
🏆 Premier League
⏰ 4:30pm
📺 Sky Sports

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Murphy had to leave out several big names out of his XI naming six Liverpool players and five from Manchester City.

As per Murphy, the combined XI is: "Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Dias, Van Dijk, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Fabinho, Bernardo; Salah, Mane, Foden."

"That’s six Liverpool players, and five from City. Just shows how closely matched they are."

Manchester City and Liverpool are truly well-matched in every sense

As Danny Murphy has stated, Manchester City and Liverpool are truly 'closely matched' in every department.

They also have two world-class managers in Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp, who are clearly the best in the world currently.

It is really difficult to pick the combined XI between the two teams who have world-class players all across their roster.

Murphy has picked Alisson Becker ahead of his Manchester City counterpart and compatriot Ederson, but it is very hard to choose one of them.

At left-back, Murphy has picked Joao Cancelo ahead of Andrew Robertson but the Scotsman is equally capable of being in the side.

▶ Manchester City: 73 points in 30 games
▶ Liverpool: 72 points in 30 games
▶ Manchester City: the best defence in the league
▶ Liverpool: the best attack in the league

It's Manchester City vs Liverpool FC today! 😍🔥 https://t.co/Ha1IokzmAX

The rest of the back four looks pretty much straight-forward though with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Ruben Dias.

In midfield, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva are pretty much automatic picks but, Rodri has done enough to challenge Fabinho at the base of the midfield trio.

Murphy has named a front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Phil Foden which looks excellent on paper.

However, Reds attacker Diogo Jota is having the season of his life and already has 20 goals in all competitions.

Raheem Sterling has also been decisive for the Cityzens on many occasions this season.

Both Jota and Sterling could have made the combined XI instead of Sadio Mane, who has experienced an up and down season this time around.