Manchester City and Liverpool’s Premier League fixture this weekend will be a clash between the top-flight’s best squads, both of which, contain some of the world’s preeminent talents.
It’s part of the reason that Sunday’s encounter is so eagerly anticipated, along with its impact on the title race and the offensive style both teams operate with.
Given the ability in the two sides, this week has seen plenty of suggested best joint XIs, with the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah among the first selections in the fantasy teams.
However, Whoscored might disagree with that. The website use statistics to determine match ratings for every Premier League fixture, and say they are ‘based on a unique, comprehensive statistical algorithm, calculated live during the game’.
From there, Whoscored calculate an average score for every player across the season.
So, using those scores, we’ve put together a best combined City and Liverpool team from this season based purely on stats, and there are a few surprising omissions, not least Van Dijk.
Meanwhile, neither Ederson or Allison have scored the highest goalkeeper mark in 2021/22, that goes to City’s Zack Steffen.
But given the American has played just 90 league minutes this term, that score should be taken with a pinch of salt, although Steffen is the only player in the XI who has made fewer than five appearances.
The line-up takes into consideration positions, and here’s how it looks…
1. Zack Steffen- 7.16
2. Trent Alexander-Arnold- 7.57
3. John Stones- 7.21
4. Joel Matip- 7.31