This has been the biggest rivalry in English football for around half a decade and many expected this April meeting at the Etihad to be a title decider, but that is not the case. Man City need to win to close the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal, while Liverpool need a positive result in their bid to finish inside the top four.
The Premier League champions unsurprisingly dominate our combined XI of the two sides ahead of Saturday’s clash…
GK: Alisson (Liverpool)
Choosing between Alisson and Ederson has been the job of the Brazil manager for the last few years, but that particular honour has fallen onto my lap here.
Alisson was Tite’s first-choice goalkeeper at last year’s World Cup and has 61 caps to his name, while Ederson has played 19 times for his country. My selection process has not come down to who is Brazil’s No. 1, however.
The Liverpool shot-stopper has always been the superior player, in my opinion, and has arguably been his side’s best player in what has been a bitterly disappointing campaign. One thing Ederson has over Alisson is the ability to play with the ball at his feet. There is no goalkeeper better than the Man City man in that department.
READ MORE: Premier League keepers ranked: Jordan Pickford breaches top five
RB: Kyle Walker (Man City)
Fittingly, this is another battle here which also takes place on the international stage. The Brazil boss only has two goalkeepers to choose from, while England manager Gareth Southgate has four top-class right-backs at his disposal, and then a lot of players very worthy of playing for their country who simply cannot get a sniff.
Only three players have more minutes for the Three Lions under Southgate than Kyle Walker – who has been favoured ahead of Kieran Trippier, Reece James – who is often unavailable through injury – and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Walker is good going forward, solid defensively and has always had a ludicrous amount of pace in his locker. His attacking and technical ability is not as strong as Alexander-Arnold, but he is significantly better at defending. His reliability, experience and defensive capabilities greatly help his case under Southgate and Pep Guardiola, and is why he gets in this team ahead of Trent.
CB: Ruben Dias (Man City)
Guardiola has the benefit of having five superb central defenders to choose from, which is what it takes to win four Premier League titles in five years.
Ruben Dias has been City’s most consistent centre-back…
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