Gambling.com's Combined Arsenal/Liverpool XI
Ahead of Sunday’s top of the table clash between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates, we got our football experts at Gambling.com to come up with their combined XI.
The criteria was simple. All players in each squad are available for selection regardless of if they are currently injured or away on international duty.
Seven Liverpool players make the XI, with four coming from the Gunners, who are favourites with the football betting sites to win Sunday's game.
Do you agree with their choices?
Alisson The Unanimous Choice
Choosing the goalkeeper was one of the easiest selections for our combined XI. It had to be Alisson.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta can’t even decide who his first choice goalkeeper is after signing David Raya from Brentford in the summer.
Raya has been between the posts for 17 league games while Aaron Ramsdale has been given the gloves for the other five.
Liverpool keeper Alisson is not only the more commanding keeper. He’s also the only one with a Premier League winner’s medal and he’s scored more league goals than the Arsenal duo combined.
Defence Dominated By Reds
Liverpool have the best defensive record in this season’s Premier League so it makes sense that three of the four defenders selected are from the Anfield club.
Virgil Van Dijk remains one of the best defenders in world football and his presence at the heart of the Reds defence is why they are challenging for their second title in five seasons.
The Dutch defender is an outsider with betting apps to win the coveted Player of the Year award, but his odds will shorten if he ends the season strongly.
Joining van Dijk in the back four are team-mates Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Robertson is returning from a shoulder injury that sidelined him since October’s international break.
Alexander-Arnold could have lined up in midfield, but for the purposes of this challenge, he has been given the right back slot.
Arsenal’s William Saliba is the sole Gunner in the back four after another solid season.
After a number of seasons on loan in Ligue 1, Saliba has settled into being a leader for Arsenal.
Gunners In Charge Of Midfield
Arsenal come out on top in the three-man midfield. Declan Rice has slotted right into the Gunners midfield since joining from West Ham last summer for ￡105m.
Mikel Arteta saw Rice as the player to edge Arsenal closer to their first title since their ‘Invincibles’ season of 2003/04.
His first season in the red and white shirt has been solid and his partnership with Martin Odegaard is getting better week by week.
Completing the midfield three is Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai, one of several signings to rejuvenate Jurgen Klopp’s midfield.
Szoboszlai has missed just one league game all season and he will be a major part of any success Klopp has in his final season in charge of the Reds.
Liverpool Pair Lead Attack
Our football experts were unanimous in their selection of their three forwards from Arsenal and Liverpool.
Mohamed Salah has consistently scored goals for the Reds and he will be looking to win a fourth Golden Boot this season.
Salah, who is the league’s joint leading scorer with Erling Haaland on 14, is back from the Africa Cup of Nations and should feature on Sunday despite picking up a hamstring injury on international duty.
Diogo Jota took his total of league goals this season to eight in Liverpool’s 4-1 win over Chelsea at Anfield on Wednesday night.
Bukayo Saka is one goal behind Jota after scoring what turned out to be the winner for Arsenal in their 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night, and he is among the favourites with UK betting sites to be Sunday's first scorer.
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