Liverpool and Arsenal are two of the favourites for the Premier League title this season and they go head to head this weekend.
It’s a game packed full of the league’s biggest talent, but who’ll be the best on show as the two most recent Premier League title-winning clubs go head to head?
We’ve picked our current combined XI of Liverpool and Arsenal players.
GK: David Raya
He’s the best goalkeeper in the league and given Alisson’s relative decline, it’s an easy choice.
The two keepers are very similar. Both excellent shot-stoppers and also just as good with their feet but Raya is the pick if going off today.
RB: Ben White
Jeremie Frimpong has failed to secure the right-back role at Liverpool which means you are choosing between one of the two Arsenal options.
Last year you may have said Jurrien Timber but Ben White has been very good there so far this season for Arsenal.
He’s got three assists, just one behind leader Declan Rice, and has a great connection with Saka ahead of him.
CB: Virgil van Dijk
Eight years after his move to Liverpool and Van Dijk has been one of the league’s best defenders ever since.
He’s 35 now but has shown little sign of being out of his depth. His quick pace may not be there as much as it once was but he knows where to be at the right time to snuff out any attacks.
With a much-changed defence around him, Van Dijk has been crucial to Liverpool achieving the fourth-best defence in the league.
CB: Gabriel
He may not be in the same goalscoring form as he was last year but Gabriel is still just as important for Arsenal, especially with Saliba out.
He is amongst the leaders in plenty of defensive metrics and his physicality makes him a nightmare for strikers to play against.
Ezri Konsa has played well but Gabriel is still the pick.
LB: Riccardo Calafiori
Milos Kerkez has not lived up to his potential and so Riccardo Calafiori is an easy pick at left-back.
Not only is he a good defender but he is also a consistent contributor to Arsenal’s attack with three Premier League goal involvements so far this season.
CM: Declan Rice
The highest-ranking Arsenal player in the Ballon d’Or voting this year, Rice’s importance can’t be underestimated.
He can be an enforcer in a way that no one at Liverpool really can but is also adept at driving up the pitch.
CM: Bruno Guimaraes
And it’s an Arsenal pairing in the midfield with Guimaraes slotting in next to Rice.
He’s the kind of player either team would have loved to sign in the summer from Newcastle and it was Arsenal who were the lucky takers.
The 28-year-old is still getting going at Arsenal and ordinarily it’d be a toss-up between him and Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai, who’s on the comeback trail from injury.
But two goals from as many Premier League starts so far is promising by the Brazilian.
RM: Bukayo Saka
Given Liverpool didn’t really replace Mohamed Salah with another specialist right winger it just has to be Saka. Wouldn’t be like him to have a rest anyway.
Saka started the season on fire with three goals from his first four games in the league.
CAM: Martin Odegaard
Odegaard had a difficult time of it last season despite captaining Arsenal to the title. On an individual level though he’s bounced back brilliantly this season.
With four goals from 14 games in all competitions so far, this is a player back at his best.
LM: Bradley Barcola
Arsenal were mentioned as potential suitors for Barcola in the summer but it was Liverpool who got their hands on the French winger.
He’s starting to find his groove, with a Champions League hat-trick against LASK and assists in each of his last two Premier League outings.
Arsenal chose Christos Tzolis as the man to revamp their left wing in the summer and it might turn out to be a better value-for-money deal, but Barcola is the better player.
ST: Alexander Isak
Allow us to put ourselves in Graham Potter’s shoes for a minute and pick between two Swedish strikers.
On current form, it’s not much of a contest, with Isak scoring six goals from seven games in the Premier League this season and Viktor Gyokeres yet to get off the mark.
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name everybody to play for both Liverpool & Arsenal in the PL?
