Premier League 2019-20: Liverpool vs Manchester City combined XI
Liverpool amassed 97 points last season, only to find Manchester City pip them to the Premier League title by one point. The title race last season was so intense that the lead at the top of the table changed hands 25 times.
This season it looks like the title race will again be between the same two teams. The other teams in the league are way behind the top 2 in terms of quality and consistency.
After 11 games of the new season of the Premier League, Liverpool have opened up a 6-point lead over the reigning champions Manchester City. But even though Jurgen Klopp's men have started this season better than their rivals, one thing is clear: just like last season, Liverpool and Man City will again go toe-to-toe in the title race.
With Manchester City set to face Liverpool at Anfield this Sunday, the race promises to get even spicier. Pep Guardiola and Klopp must already be losing sleep over this fixture, and we can be sure the intensity on the pitch will be extremely high.
But what if you are allowed to pick a combined XI from both squads? Imagine Kevin de Bruyne linking up play with Mohamed Salah, or Sadio Mane and Sergio Aguero ripping apart defenses together. That would be some nightmare for the defenders!
With both teams possessing quality squads, there are a few tough decisions to be made. Alisson or Ederson, Fabinho or Fernandinho, Aguero or Firmino, Sane or Mane, Sterling or Salah? There are of course a few no-brainers too, and a few players missing out due to injury including Aymeric Laporte, Leroy Sane and Joel Matip.
On that note, let's have a look at who makes the cut for our combined XI:
Goalkeeper - Alisson Becker
Both Liverpool and City are blessed with outstanding Brazilian goalkeepers in Alisson Becker and Ederson Moraes. It is a very tough job to separate the two of them.
Alisson won the Premier League Golden Glove award, having kept 21 clean sheets. And Ederson was not too far behind with 20 clean sheets of his own.
Ederson is regarded as a better distributor of balls, and he even has an assist to his name in the Premier League - something that his compatriot is yet to achieve. But Alisson is considered to be a better goalkeeper overall and has time and again made game-changing saves for Liverpool.
Alisson was also named FIFA's best goalkeeper of the year for 2019, so with the slimmest of margins we have to put him in goal ahead of City's Ederson.
Liverpool open the scoring in this one as it is Liverpool 1 City 0.