Premier League: Liverpool vs Arsenal - Combined XI

Liverpool face Arsenal in Premier League this weekendArsenal travel to Anfield in this weekend’s marquee clash in the Premier League. Arsene Wenger heads to Liverpool with his side having won three of the last four in the league and also having qualified for the Champions League knockout stage where they will face Wenger’s former club Monaco.On the other hand, Liverpool have been knocked out of the Champions League and have found three points in the Premier League extremely hard to come by. Brendan Rodgers will be hoping his team can take the positives from a rare good performance in the League cup on Wednesday and go into this crucial fixture with some confidence.We tried our hand at combining the squads of 11th placed Liverpool and 6th placed Arsenal to come up with the best possible starting eleven based on current form. Below are the results of this exercise. Liverpool’s troubles are highlighted by the fact that only four of their players made the cut!

#1 Goalkeeper - Wojciech Szczsny

It couldn’t be an easier choice to make at the goalkeeping position between the two clubs. Szczsny is the undisputed first choice for Arsene Wenger whereas Brendan Rodgers dropped the much maligned Simon Mignolet to the bench only to be replaced by another hapless goaltender in Brad Jones. 

Szczsny has become more reliable with experience and has only missed playing time this season due to injury. The Polish international has kept just three clean sheets this season but that is mainly down to the Arsenal back four which has not been the most difficult to score against and which has had to cope with numerous injuries.

At the other end of the pitch, Liverpool are expected to start with Brad Jones between the sticks. The 32 year old Aussie came in for the out of form Simon Mignolet against Manchester United last weekend but didn’t look very comfortable. Jones was also at fault for Dan Gosling’s goal in Liverpool’s mid week win at Bournemouth in the League Cup and the jury is still out on whether Rodgers was right to drop Mignolet to the bench considering he did not have a good enough replacement at his disposal.