Arsenal and Liverpool go head-to-head in the Premier League title race on Sunday, so here are the combined elevens for both teams.
GK: Alisson (Liverpool)
He rides in all these XIs. Alisson is the best goalkeeper in the Premier League.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
A great soccer player born to play in the role of an inverted deep-lying register single pivot, Alexander-Arnold's incredible technical ability meant that the supposedly made-up gibberish position was a real one. I guess he made me believe it.
We all know how questionable he is defensively and I'm sure Gabriel Martinelli will cause him some problems in Sunday's game, but no one has talked about that aspect of his game in a while. Ta. This emphasizes how important it is that he is going in the opposite direction.
Conor Bradley has performed admirably in Trent's absence, but after being left on the bench for the second game in a row, we expect the England international to return to the starting lineup against their Premier League title rivals. .
CB: William Saliba (Arsenal)
Saliba is one of the best young central defenders in the Premier League and is usually included in the XI in these combinations. It was very difficult to choose between him and Gabriel Magalhães, but it was even more difficult to give him the nod before Ibrahima Konate. His fellow Frenchmen are equally good.
CB: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Van Dijk's form this season has surprised many. He's ridiculously good, defying logic, but he seemed to be in decline after tearing his cruciate ligament.
The Liverpool captain is, dare I say it, playing the best football of his career.
LB: Andy Robertson (Liverpool)
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Robertson are completely different players, even though they are both left-backs. The Arsenal man likes to get inside, get on the ball and pick out a pass, but Robertson epitomizes Jurgen Klopp's side with his attacking runs down the left flank.
Zinchenko has improved in recent weeks, but he doesn't deserve a spot ahead of the Liverpool defender.
DM: Declan Rice (Arsenal)
If the Reds had beaten the Gunners in the race for Rice last summer, Liverpool would have received more attention and Arsenal would have been in a much worse position. Some Liverpool fans still wonder why they didn't make a proper bid for Moises Caicedo after offering more than £100m.
Perhaps the deal would have fallen apart had Champions League football not been played at Anfield. who knows? Not us. Liverpool didn't even get a bloody try.
Regardless, Rice has performed extremely well in Arsenal's midfield this season. pretty, pretty good.
CM: Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
The truth is that Arsenal's captain will be joining this team. His form is not as spectacular as in 2023/24, but he is still better than Kai Havertz, Emile Smith Rowe, Thomas Partey, Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister. .
CM: Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool)
Odegaard is better than Mac Alliser, who is better than the other players mentioned above, which means they will be partnered in midfield, in front of Rice.
The Argentina international has been playing the number six role for the Reds this season, but that means he hasn't been playing his best football. At least Wataru Endo was coming into his own…just in time to play for Japan at the Asian Cup.
RW: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Mohamed Salah won't be back on Sunday, so Saka will be. In fact, if Salah is suitable, he will be deployed on the right and we would make an exception and move Saka to the left. He doesn't play there. But he had it before. And he certainly could have done so if asked.
The Arsenal star boy has had a decidedly quiet season, but he did manage to score seven goals and provide eight assists in 21 Premier League appearances. Boys are special.
Opinion: Bukayo Saka and the vision for 2020 that sees Arsenal players ahead of Mo Salah
ST: Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)
There is no room for Captain Chaos in this composite XI. Jesus is a great all-round striker, and his biggest weakness is that he just happens to put the ball in the back of the net. This is something Darwin Nuñez isn't good at either..
Jesus is much easier on the eyes and makes those around him better. Neither of these points really apply to Darwin, but you could argue that his work rate and unpredictability benefits his teammates.
LW: Luis Diaz (Liverpool)
Dias or Martinelli is one of the biggest debates in this combined eleven, and the Liverpool winger agreed.
The Colombian has only four goals and two assists in 21 Premier League appearances this season, while Martinelli has the same tally in just one fewer game.
It could have gone either way, but we think Diaz is the better player, it's that simple.
