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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Alex Brotherton

Kevin De Bruyne stars but trio dominate attack in fans' Man City and Liverpool combined XI

Manchester City and Liverpool will meet in a top of the table clash on Sunday, in a game that could go some way to determining this season's Premier League champions.

With eight games left to play City sit one point ahead of their title challengers. Defeat at the Etihad would see Liverpool - who have won 10 league games on the bounce - establish a two-point advantage at the top.

Arguably the two best sides in the world right now, both Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have some exceptional talents to call upon. MEN readers have voted on their combined City and Liverpool XI, and it's fair to say that there are some controversial omissions...

READ MORE: Liverpool FC know size of the task to beat true mentality monsters Man City

Goalkeeper - Alisson

City might have the best defence in the league this season (18 goals conceded in 30 games) but Liverpool aren't far behind.

Klopp's side have conceded just 20, and largely have Alisson to thank for that. The Brazilian keeper has been called into action more often than Ederson this season, required to make an average of 2.04 saves per 90 minutes compared to Ederson's 1.59.

Defenders - Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo

It's hard to argue with this back four to be fair. There may be question marks over Trent Alexander-Arnold's defensive abilities, but his quality on the ball - as seen with a ridiculous cross-field pass in Liverpool's recent defeat of Benfica - earns him his spot.

Virgil van Dijk has been one of the world's best centre-backs for a few years now, and there's every reason to believe Ruben Dias will achieve a similar level of consistency.

Andrew Robertson is undoubtedly the best left-footed left-back in the league, but there's no way that Joao Cancelo was going to avoid selection after the season he's had.

Midfielders - Fabinho, Rodri, Kevin de Bruyne

Here's where things get a little confused. It appears that people really, really like number sixes, because Fabinho and Rodri have both made the cut. In reality, there would be no room for both pivots in a 4-3-3 formation, but in this case, Fabinho has beaten out the likes of Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan...

But at least Kevin de Bruyne is there - if he was missing then there'd definitely be something fishy going on.

Attackers - Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Sadio Mane

Mohamed Salah absolutely has to be there; the Egyptian winger has clocked 30 goal contributions in just 28 league appearances this season and is on course to win a third Premier League golden boot.

Readers have decided that Diogo Jota has won the battle of the false nines, which is fair enough when you consider that you never really know who Guardiola is going to select to play the role on any given day.

On the left is Sadio Mane. The Senegalese winger is having a solid season, but is he worthy of a place over Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling or City's top scorer, Riyad Mahrez? Apparently so.

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