It has been billed as Manchester City’s brilliant midfield against Liverpool’s world-class attack … but whichever way you look at it, Sunday’s Premier League title crunch is a showdown between perhaps the two best teams on the planet right now. That is a rarity in English football history, that we should play host to the two best sides, a claim which was reinforced by the breathless, high-end 2-2 draw between them at Anfield in October.
The problems begin when you get asked to pick a strongest combined XI from the two modern-day rivals from either end of the East Lancashire Road. The players who you could not even squeeze onto the bench, even in an age of nine substitutes, is almost scandalous.
But here goes - and if you disagree with the selection, you are not alone - I changed my mind three or four times and still have doubts over some positions.
