Premier League: Liverpool - Manchester City XI: Which players would make the cut?

Manchester City and Liverpool have split the last three Premier League titles between them. Other clubs, Everton, Leicester City and Tottenham, have improved their squads to the extent that they may challenge that recent duopoly.

Players from Liverpool and City - Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson, Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mané – dominated the 2019/20 PFA Team of the Year.

However, we look at which players would make a best-of Liverpool and Manchester City team. This includes injured players.

Ederson is a perfectly good goalkeeper and he might once have had claim to be the best in the league given his distribution, but Alisson for now is the best. There is little to split the Brazilian duo but Liverpool’s ‘keeper is perhaps the more consistent of the pair, and given the fine margins that leagues and games are decided on, that gives him the edge in a face-off.

Kyle Walker led the way to define the role of the modern British full-back in recent years, but Trent Alexander-Arnold has taken that a step further. It’s a physically exhausting position, so given Alexander-Arnold’s age compared to Walker it should be no surprise that he is the better of the pair right now. But the Liverpool man has something else up his sleeves. His attacking play, combined with his technique and set-piece delivery means he is clearly the superior player, with that being no slight on Walker.

It might be wrong to include Van Dijk here because he is out for the rest of the season, and because with the severity of his injury there is a non-zero chance that he never gets back to his best. But the player he was before Jordan Pickford’s ludicrous lunge was one who would not look out of place ten or twenty years ago in the Premier League. Yes, he can play the ball well, but he is also an excellent defender.

The same can be said for Laporte. He has quickly established himself as the senior partner of Nicolas Otamendi, Fernandinho, John Stones, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake. His imposing physique and assured attitude could be enhanced further if City work out a way to be less calamitous at the back this season.

In the rest of the positions it is important to make a fair case for the pick, such is the competition between the sides and the strength of their respective squads. Not here though.

De Bruyne is a remarkable player and incredibly deadly in an almost boring manner. Nothing about him shocks and thrills in a visceral manner. He is obviously a brilliantly talented player, someone who makes the rest of the side around him tick and is crucial to their very best performances. Perhaps the way he is somewhat cold is a symptom of his clinical manner on the pitch. Emotions do not appear to get in his way when he is trying to beat you, it is simply a side-effect of his genius.

A player loved by Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, and perhaps one of the few players who would be an upgrade on Ilkay Gundogan. He is expertly mobile, like a good Kleberson. He can pass short or long, provocatively and intelligently, like a good Kleberson. And there is almost no chance he will ever put in a consistent run of impressive performances for Manchester United, just like the real Kleberson.

Liverpool had a stroke of fortune to retain the Dutchman when Barcelona could not afford to strike a deal for him. Yes, his contract is running down and he is perhaps approaching the end of his most effective years on the pitch. It might have made financial sense for the club to sell him to maximise his financial contribution, but his contribution on the pitch this season will provide a link between players across the pitch.

He is in hot water for diving, and while it is not an edifying sight on the pitch, it is still effective. Added to that ruthless streak with the rules is his ruthless streak in front of goal. One of the few players who has shown themselves able to keep up with the goalscoring efforts of peak Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, he is perhaps not going to match their longevity, but there are few more dangerous players both through the middle and down the channels.

So consistently reliable and talented it has now become almost dull.

Salah’s rival for the best striker at Liverpool (though Diogo Jota is doing his best in his short Anfield career so far) given Roberto Firmino’s current struggles. He is also his rival for the best African striker too, and they can expect to contest that award for the next couple of years. At Southampton he looked like a horrible player to contend with, full of pace and direct intent. But at Liverpool he has improved himself and been improved by the talent around him to be not just an irritating opponent, but an almost irrepressible one.