Combined XI dominance shows Man City have edge over Liverpool

Manchester City and Liverpool’s upcoming clash in the Capital One Cup final is the perfect opportunity for us to put our thinking caps on and come up with a combined XI.

The two north-west powerhouses have shared a number of players of the years, with the likes of Kolo Toure and Raheem Sterling having represented both.

Only one of those makes it into Ladbrokes’ starting eleven, no prizes for guessing which, and the level of City dominance shows just why they are 8/13 favourites for the contest.

Of course, Liverpool fans will point out how much they dominated the game at the Etihad when they won 4-1 in the Premier League.

However, based on the quality of the teams you would have to suspect that on most occasions the Mancunians would come out better.

Here is how Ladbrokes would line up a combined 11.

Joe Hart is the obvious choice to start over the error-prone Simon Mignolet, while the defence needs some explaining.

Nathaniel Clyne gets one of the few Liverpool spots due to his attacking talents, while the Man City trio get in due to vulnerability of Clyne’s defensive colleagues.

Yaya Toure and Fernandinho just nudge out Jordan Henderson due to their ability to fill in on defensive and offensive duties.

David Silva has to be included and the skilful pairing of Raheem Sterling and Philipe Coutinho make it due to Kevin De Bruyne’s injury.

Of course, Sergio Aguero starts as the striker.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.