Manchester United and Liverpool combined XI, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in frightening front three

Who makes our Man Utd and Liverpool combined XI? (Pictures: Getty)

Manchester United and Liverpool renew their rivalry this weekend in Sunday’s stand-out Premier League encounter at Old Trafford in what will hopefully be a more entertaining clash than when they last met.

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These two played out a dour 0-0 draw at Anfield earlier in the season, in a match that didn’t do justice to the quality of players on show from both sides.

Ahead of their next game, we’ve put together a best XI of the United and Liverpool squads, which illustrates just how many potential matchwinners will be on show this weekend.

In all honesty, a combined XI of the players who didn’t make the cut would probably also fare pretty well…

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Defence

Manchester United edge the goalkeeper and defence by a scoreline of 3-2.

David de Gea is the obvious choice over either of Liverpool’s unreliable shot-stoppers, with Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius sharing number one duties this season thanks to each other’s ineptitude.

Antonio Valencia and James Milner take the full-back slots after both proving highly successful since moving to their respective sides from midfield. In the centre, Joel Matip and Marcos Rojo __have probably been the best performers from both sides, though neither club would see that area as a real strength.

Midfield

This is a little attack-minded, but undoubtedly a very strong central midfield three, with United again slightly edging their rivals for players involved.

The Red Devils duo of Paul Pogba and Juan Mata make it in, with in-form Liverpool star Adam Lallana joining them.

All three __have been superb this season, with the likes of Jordan Henderson, Emre Can, Michael Carrick and Ander Herrera unlucky to miss out on places here.

Adam Lallana has been immense for Liverpool this season (Picture: Getty)

Juan Mata has started to show his best form for United (Picture: Getty)

Sadio Mane will be one of the biggest misses from this game (Picture: Getty)

Attack

Liverpool win the attack 2-1, but it’s an overall score of six United players to the Reds’ five.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s recent form make him the unquestionable choice to lead the line, and one can only imagine how much better he might do if flanked by Liverpool pair Sadio Mane and Philippe Coutinho.

Mane will be a big miss for Liverpool in this one after jetting off to the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal, while Coutinho should be back from injury to continue where he left off after a fine start to the season.