da wazamba： Manchester United host bitter rivals Liverpool on Saturday in a battle that has taken on extra significance with the two sides so tightly matched in the race for second place.
da leao： Liverpool undoubtedly play the more attractive football and Jurgen Klopp has fashioned a frightening attack while Jose Mourinho is still struggling to transform his star-studded frontline into a cohesive unit.
That makes looking at the individual quality of the players quite interesting as Liverpool have not spent to the same degree as United but appear to be working in better harmony.
A combined eleven between the two clubs might still struggle to catch Manchester City but it would certainly give it a good go.
FootballFanCast have put together a combination in a 4-3-3 system – so Paul Pogba can have no complaints about his best position – with six representatives of one club and five of the other.
But which side comes out on top? Take a look…
GK: David de Gea
It’s no contest to start off with. De Gea has been constantly outstanding for five seasons now; saving United countless times and surely establishing himself as the best goalkeeper in the world.
The Liverpool goalkeeping situation has been well-documented. Both Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius oscillate between the sublime and the nervous but the German has stepped up his game in recent weeks and pulled off an outstanding save against Newcastle last weekend.
As the younger man, he represents the better bet if Klopp is to rectify his goalkeeping issues from within but he isn’t in De Gea’s league right now. Although that begs the question, is any other goalkeeper?
RB: Antonio Valencia
This one is a toss-up between youth and experience. With Nathaniel Clyne having been ruled out all season, Klopp has overseen the emergence of two very promising English right-backs.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was thrust into the corresponding fixture last season and marshalled Anthony Martial impressively while Joe Gomez was man of the match in this season’s 0-0 draw between the two at Anfield.
However, Antonio Valencia has become a fixture in the United backline in recent years. He gets up and down the right well, generally delivers with quality and has scored some screamers this season. He just about gets the nod.
CB: Virgil Van Dijk
Eyebrows might have been raised over the transfer fee paid by the Reds for Virgil Van Dijk but he is the best centre-back either side has at their disposal.
Liverpool have had issues at centre-back since Rafael Benitez left the club but it looks like the Reds have finally found the answer in the shape of the Dutchman.
Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren marshalled Romelu Lukaku with relative ease earlier in the season and while the Belgian striker is in better form now, Van Dijk will fancy his chances of keeping him quiet.
CB: Eric Bailly
Bailly has struggled badly with injury this season and there is little doubt it has hampered United this season. He is easily the best centre-back at the club and his return to full fitness cannot come soon enough.
He has been on the bench in recent weeks, watching on as Chris Smalling delivers nervous performances alongside Victor Lindelof.
He has the pace, power and quality to make a real difference to the United backline when he’s fit.
LB: Andy Robertson
It is easy to forget that James Milner had to fill in at left-back for a whole season last time around so the arrival of Andy Robertson at Anfield was genuinely exciting.
He took a little while to find his feet but his form over the past three months has been outstanding. Meanwhile, United have been using another former Aston Villa midfielder as a makeshift left-back – Ashley Young – ahead of Luke Shaw, who still can’t impress Mourinho.
CDM: Nemanja Matic
Matic netted his first Manchester United goal against Crystal Palace last time out, a stunner to grab all three points in stoppage time.
With Michael Carrick’s influence waning badly, Matic has brought a steadiness and positional discipline to the United midfield.
Emre Can and Jordan Henderson offer energy at the back of midfield but still leave the back four exposed at times, which means the former Chelsea man gets the nod in the holding role.
CM: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Chamberlain moved to Liverpool because he wanted to play in central midfield and develop under Jurgen Klopp, after years of being shunted around under Arsene Wenger, which caused his progression to stall.
He has forced his way to the front of the queue at Anfield, despite the energetic and talented midfielders at the club and gets into this team ahead of Ander Herrera and Scott McTominay.
That is testament to a man who has come on further in six months under Klopp than in years under Wenger.
CM: Paul Pogba
He isn’t enjoying the best of times right now but Pogba is the most talented midfielder on either squad.
He gets into this side on the left side of a midfield trio – his supposed best position – and Mourinho must be hoping he will come good if he continues to play there.
He needs a big performance against Liverpool and it would go a long way to silencing the ever-increasing number of doubters.
RW: Mo Salah
What else can be said about Salah that hasn’t been said already? His goalscoring return dwarfs Luis Suarez best season at Anfield and he is on course to match the form of Cristiano Ronaldo when he scored 42 goals for United and won the Ballon d’Or in 2008.
Signed for £36.9m – but now valued at £72m by transfermarkt.co.uk – he has to be the signing of the summer by far. Whoever Mourinho chooses to go up against him – Ashley Young or Luke Shaw – will be in for a long afternoon.
He and De Gea are this team’s star men.
LW: Alexis Sanchez
It was always going to take a lot to break up the outstanding Reds front three but Alexis Sanchez’ individual talent edges out Sadio Mane.
He has struggled to integrate himself into United’s attack – which doubtless owes a lot to the fact that it doesn’t really have an identity – but he is capable of winning games on his own.
He is tireless and Mourinho will love that about him. He was the man Brendan Rodgers wanted to replace the aforementioned Suarez and things could have been very different if he’d got him.
ST: Roberto Firmino
Romelu Lukaku has been in improved form for United but there are still issues with his hold-up play, his first touch, his overall contribution in big matches and his composure.
Meanwhile, Firmino is so important to this Liverpool side. He can come short, he can go in behind, he starts the press and never gives defenders a moment’s peace.
If he was United’s main striker, he would have more goals than Lukaku has amassed this season.
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