Choosing our Man City & Liverpool combined XI: No Salah in all City attack… | OneFootball

Ahead of Manchester City’s clash with Liverpool in the FA Cup, we’ve picked the best XI from the Blues and Reds combined – it looks a lot different to how it might have done not so long ago.

For starters: no Mo Salah. Or any Liverpool forwards whatsoever. And no Rodri. The times really are a-changing.

Here’s who makes the team and why…

GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma

This would have been a much tougher decision not long ago but Alisson has slipped from his peerless peak and fitness is once again a problem. Is it time for Liverpool to cash in and give Giorgi Mamardashvili the run we assume he was promised when he signed?

Donnarumma has been everything Pep Guardiola hoped he would be. Which sucks for James Trafford. And not quite good enough to drag Italy to a World Cup.

RB: Dominik Szoboszlai

As he has done for Arne Slot, probably too often, Liverpool’s player of the season by a million miles is doing us a job at right-back. Mainly because he’s been very good there when played out of his preferred midfield position, but also in the absence of much competition.

Matheus Nunes has been much improved but the feeling persists that City would upgrade in a heartbeat given the chance.

CB: Virgil Van Dijk

The Liverpool captain has shown signs of fallibility this season but even when not at the very top of his game, Van Dijk is a better option than almost any other centre-back.

Who at City is going to make a claim for Van Dijk’s place? The only one of Pep’s centre-backs who might be in the conversation is partnering him…

CB: Marc Guehi

This is central defensive partnership Liverpool ought to have had. And they would have if they didn’t faff around last summer, then again in the winter, allowing City a free run at the England centre-back just because they would have to pay what is a nominal fee for a player of his quality.

Guehi has slipped into City’s defence seamlessly and looks like being there for years. Even if Fede Valverde made him look a bit silly.

LB: Nico O’Reilly

Tricky call, this, because Milos Kerkez has improved as the season has gone on. And O’Reilly has been moved away from the left-back position of late.

But he played there for long enough to make a more favourable impression overall that than Liverpool’s £40million summer signing and it’s entirely possible he’ll be England’s left-back at the World Cup.

CM: Ryan Gravenberch

Like almost every Liverpool player, Gravenberch has failed to match the standards he set for himself during the stroll to last season’s Premier League title. But some of that he can pin on Slot.

Last season, he played as a plain-and-simple no.6. And he excelled, winning Young Player of the Year and getting into the PFA Team of the Year.

So, obviously, Slot decided to change his role and makes him more a no.8, giving him freedom and responsibility to get forward. Which isn’t Gravenberch’s thing. Just because he can doesn’t mean he should.

You sit there, lad, and let this fella go wandering…

CM: Bernardo Silva

Conversely, Silva has used what licence to roam Pep gives him – he’s one of the few the manager entrusts with much freedom at all – to drop into much deeper positions this season. And Guardiola will miss him when he’s gone…

RW: Antoine Semenyo

Like Guehi, Semenyo has only been at City for less than half the season but has settled quickly enough to take the spot on the right wing at the expense of Salah.

The Ghana winger has matched Salah’s Premier League goals tally in less than half the minutes played by the Egyptian. Salah’s legacy is unquestioned but if we had to take him or Semenyo based on this season’s form, we’d have the City man.

AM: Rayan Cherki

Liverpool liked Cherki but chose to blow a fortune on Florian Wirtz instead. Which might not prove to be a bad decision in the long run, but for immediate impact, City’s purchase of the Frenchman from Lyon for £30million is a steal.

As well as being more fun to watch, Cherki has outperformed Wirtz in assists and big chances created, with only Bruno Fernandes offering more in both metrics.

LW: Jeremy Doku

Perhaps Wirtz would prefer to playing more towards the left side. Which, in this side, is Doku’s position.

Doku believed he was having his best season so far at City before a calf injury set him back at the start of the year.

The Belgian had already done enough to see off Cody Gakpo for this spot, and his return for the run-in should be a big boost for Guardiola.

CF: Erling Haaland

The Haaland versus Alexander Isak battle for this position has been one of the biggest anti-climaxes of the season. Even if Isak had stayed fit, he would not have matched Haaland’s output. Isak’s concern is Hugo Ekitike, not Haaland.

The Norwegian has already matched his 22-goal tally for last season and needs five more in seven games to equal the previous campaign. Two a game through the run-in to match his ridiculous first season might be a stretch, mind.