Man Utd 6 – 5 Man City: No Rooney In Our Combined XI Ahead Of Manchester Derby

A thrilling weekend of sport kicks off with the highly anticipated Manchester derby as United welcome bitter rivals City to Old Trafford on Saturday lunchtime.

Ahead of the big game, I’m going to come up with a combined XI from the two teams. This side is based on the two squads as a whole and not just those players who are available this weekend.

Goalkeeper

We’re yet to see Claudio Bravo in a City shirt following his move from Barcelona but it’s irrelevant as David De Gea is the obvious choice between the sticks.

Defence

Vincent Kopmany has been a superb servant to City over the years but his injury problems are catching up with him and it’s time for the young pretenders to take over. John Stones has made an excellent start to life at City following his move from Everton and I can see him developing in to a top class centre-back under Pep Guardiola.

Eric Bailly has also been hugely impressive at the back for United following his summer move and fully deserves a place in the team while Luke Shaw looks to be over his injury woes and gets the nod over Gael Clichy at left-back.

Right-back is now arguably the weakest area for both United and City. Pablo Zabaleta is approaching the end of his career while Antonio Valencia has made an encouraging start to the new season so the United man just edges it.

Midfield

World record signing Paul Pogba is a clear choice in the middle of the park and I think the French international is going to prove to be an excellent addition for United following his move from Juventus this summer.

The second midfield position is a more difficult one but I think Fernandinho should get the nod ahead of the likes of Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick or Ander Herrera. Ilkay Gundogan would probably make the cut but we’ve yet to see him play in the Premier League as he’s still working his way back to full fitness after joining from Borussia Dortmund with a knee problem.

Attack

I don’t see how you can leave out a talent like David Silva as he’s a magician on the ball while Kevin De Bruyne is also starting to fulfill his huge potential at the Etihad Stadium so he gets the nod ahead of Henrikh Mkhitaryan as we’re yet to really see what he’s capable of at United.

I’ve gone with two up front as it’s impossible to leave out either Sergio Aguero or Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Aguero is one of the best goalscorers the Premier League has ever seen and Zlatan is still world class despite coming towards the end of his career.

It means there is no place in the side for United skipper Wayne Rooney. There is no doubt his influence at United has been fading in recent years and I can’t see any justification to select him ahead of Ibrahimovic or Aguero.

If we do this combined eleven in 12 months time I wouldn’t be surprised if Marcus Rashford forces his way in to the side but for now he’ll have to make do with a place on the bench alongside Rooney.

So overall, United edge the combined XI with 6 representatives to City’s 5. Check out the line-up here:

What do you think? What would your combined eleven be?