Liverpool vs. Manchester City: Combined XI | Premier League 2020-21

Central Defense: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) and Ruben Dias (Manchester City)

Ruben Dias has transformed Manchester City's defense.

Despite the talents of players such as John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Joel Matip, and Joe Gomez, the choice for this team’s two center-back spots was an easy one.

Virgil van Dijk and Ruben Dias were both signed for big money - £75m and £62m respectively – but both defenders essentially transformed their team’s fortunes at the back almost upon arrival.

Van Dijk famously arrived at Liverpool for a world-record fee in January 2018. The former Southampton man added everything that the Reds needed to shore up their defense - from pace and power to an incredible ability to prevent attackers from dribbling past him.

And the fact that Liverpool have struggled so much since his ACL injury in the current season shows how much Jurgen Klopp relies on the Dutchman. Not only is he dominant from a defensive standpoint, but his awesome passing ability – he averages higher than an 89% success rate – also allows the Reds to start attacks from deep.

Dias has had a similar effect on Manchester City’s defense since arriving from Benfica in September. Signed with the reputation of more of an “old school” defender than the ones usually deployed by Pep Guardiola, he’s given City another dimension entirely at the back.

The Portuguese international has all the classy passing range – averaging a 93.2% success rate – that you’d expect from a City player. But his dominance in defensive situations – with an average of 1.1 interceptions, 2.8 clearances and 2.2 aerial duels won per game – cannot be overstated either.

Put these two defenders together, and the back-line of our combined side would be nearly impregnable.

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Left-Back: Andrew Robertson (Liverpool)

Andrew Robertson has become a key player for Liverpool since his arrival.

Like the right-back slot, this was a relatively easy decision to make. Similarly to his fellow Liverpool full-back, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson hasn’t been on his best form during the current campaign.

Despite this, there’d be few who would argue that Benjamin Mendy, Joao Cancelo, or Oleksandr Zinchenko of Manchester City would deserve a place in front of him here.

Since joining from Hull City in the summer of 2017, Robertson has been a revelation at Liverpool. His debut season saw him deliver one goal and five assists, but his numbers have flown up at an astonishing rate since then.

In Liverpool’s title-winning 2019-20 campaign, for instance, the Scotsman finished the season with two goals and an amazing 12 assists, making him one of the Premier League’s most effective attacking players.

And despite his form not quite reaching its usual heights this season, he’s already got one goal and five assists to his name.

The Scotsman has incredible pace, can ping an accurate ball into the box from almost any angle, and is a pretty solid defender too. Any Premier League side would love to have him, and so it’s a no-brainer that we include him in this combined XI.