Manchester United will take on Manchester City on Saturday afternoon in their quest of prolonging the title race and not letting the big rivals clinch the Premier League title in front them. The match comes after City’s heavy 3-0 loss at the hands of Liverpool in Champions League and it will be interesting to see how they bounce back.
They should also rest some players for the return leg against the Merseyside team, but United will nevertheless be very motivated to beat them. Here is our combined XI from the two Manchester teams.
Goalkeeper – David De Gea
Things in goal are always quite simple whenever we make these combined XIs. David De Gea has been the best goalkeeper in the Premier League this season, ergo his place in goal is always safe. The Brazilian Ederson also had some stunning moments this term, even against Manchester United last December, but De Gea’s shot-stopping qualities have made Manchester United the biggest favourites to stay in second place when the season finishes.
Defence – Kyle Walker, Eric Bailly, Vincent Kompany, Ashley Young
Things are split here. Kyle Walker is without doubt the best right back of both teams and his spraying up and down the field gives Manchester City plenty when they are in possession. Eric Bailly could complement well with Vincent Kompany in the central defence. The Ivorian has been very good for United whenever he was healthy, while the Belgian has had issues with injuries as well.
However, his experience puts him ahead of Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones particularly, while at left back United edge City out. Ashley Young gets his place against Guardiola’s makeshift left-backs because of his experience to jump into Mourinho’s side and do a good job in a new position.
Midfield – David Silva, Nemanja Matic, Kevin De Bruyne
And then we get to midfield area where City dominate. We decided to play in a 4-3-3 formation, as it would fit the two sides very well. Only Nemanja Matic gets his place here from United players and there could still be an argument for Fernandinho being better fit for this.
The two free-roaming midfielders ahead of the Serbian are City’s dazzling duo of David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne. Paul Pogba simply cannot get his place here, as the Spaniard and the Belgian have been absolutely astonishing throughout the season and De Bruyne could still possibly be crowned the best player of the season.
Attack – Raheem Sterling, Romelu Lukaku, Leroy Sane
The front three is quite a young one. Romelu Lukaku gets advantage ahead of Aguero and Jesus as his robustness could fit even better the players around him. He would be more of a typical poacher who would just get on scoring goals and nothing else, while Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane would be on the flanks creating.
Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard both had good seasons for United, but their performances are not up to the level the Englishman and the young German. Sterling has had his best goalscoring season, while Sane has been making a case of becoming a starter for Germany in the World Cup.
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