Alan Shearer names Liverpool and Man City combined XI - with only three of Pep Guardiola's stars

Liverpool hosts Man City in the Premier League this weekend with Alan Shearer picking his combined XI ahead of the Anfield clash, but only three of Pep Guardiola's men feature

Soccer pundit Alan Shearer.(Image: James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)

Alan Shearer has named his Liverpool and Manchester City combined XI ahead of the teams meeting at Anfield this weekend — with only three of Pep Guardiola's men making the cut.

Liverpool heads into this weekend sixth in the Premier League standings, with Manchester City in second but trailing Arsenal by six points. A home win on Sunday would be a major boost to Arne Slot's chances of making the Champions League spots but would severely damage the Etihad side's chances of winning the title.

Despite the eight-point gap between Liverpool and Manchester City in the table, Shearer has put only three of Guardiola's men in his combined team: Erling Haaland, Bernardo Silva and new signing Marc Guehi.

Bizarrely, the Newcastle United legend also picked Andy Robertson, even though Milos Kerkez is the number one choice under Slot.

Mohamed Salah was in amid a relatively poor campaign for the Egyptian, with Jeremie Frimpong selected at right-back even though he has missed much of the season through injury.

Shearer's combined team in full (for Betfair): Alisson Becker; Jeremie Frimpong, Marc Guehi, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson; Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, Bernardo Silva; Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland, Hugo Ekitike.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola(Image: Getty Images)

"One hundred per cent," Van Dijk replied when in a Sky Sports interview with Gary Neville if earning a Champions League spot is a "must".

"I want to play Champions League football but everyone else wants to play that as well, so we're working very hard to make sure that we do that, but I still feel that this season could still be special.

"We're in the Champions League, we're in the FA Cup still, obviously a big game against Brighton next week and the Champions League, we’ll see what happens, but I feel that this season could be special.

"Even after all the difficulties we had over the summer, during the first part of the season, injuries, I feel like this still can be something special.

"But we need consistency, we need to work, we have to enjoy it as well, because we are very, very privileged to be able to go out there every time, represent the club and play good football."

After taking on Manchester City, Liverpool travels to Sunderland next midweek. It then hosts Brighton in the FA Cup looking to book a place in the fifth round of the competition.

Liverpool.com says: Getting into the top four or five spots is priority number one but going far in either Europe or the FA Cup would be massive too.

As for Shearer's combined team, it feels a little Liverpool-heavy. Manchester City has been better this season, for sure, even though neither side has been anything close to perfect.