Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher pick their Liverpool and Man Utd opposition #One2Eleven teams

Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher pick their Liverpool and Man Utd XIs

Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher have selected their Liverpool and Manchester United opposition #One2Eleven teams.

The two clubs meet at Old Trafford on Nissan Super Sunday, and ahead of the clash the two former rivals sat down to choose their toughest opponents faced in the fixture.

Here's who they picked...

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Neville's Liverpool #One2Eleven

GOALKEEPER - Pepe Reina

I don't think Liverpool ever had a goalkeeper I've liked that much to be honest with you, but I'll go for Reina.

DEFENCE - Markus Babbel, Stephane Henchoz, Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher

Liverpool have had may good full-backs and I always remember that around that time, it felt like they had this tall, narrow back four and it was a nightmare to play against. There were no gaps, every time you crossed it, they headed or playing down the side, they had someone covering it.

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To me, this was Liverpool's strongest back four, otherwise I can't think of a great right-back or left-back. I think putting Carragher at left-back, just to get him in first and foremost, then it gets Henchoz and Hyypia in as well.

MIDFIELD - Steven Gerrard, Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso and John Barnes

With Mascherano and Alonso in midfield, it's the only time in my career where I thought 'they're actually good here'. Gerrard was a number 10 and Torres was up front, with Carragher and Hyypia in the centre of defence and with Reina in goal, I thought 'another signing or two here, and they're going to win the league or they're close'.

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Image: Steven Gerrard and Gary Neville leading out their teams for the derby clash

I played against Barnes three or four times and played with him for England and although when I played against him around 1995/96, he was just coming to the end, I think just for his ability and skill, he was a brilliant player. With him just tucked in on the left, it's a good midfield four.

STRIKERS - Michael Owen and Fernando Torres

These two were lightning quick. Owen in his early years was electric and for those two or three years at Liverpool he was devastating, especially on the left channel where I played. It was tough.

Torres for me was probably a world-class centre-forward. I didn't play against Luis Suarez or I would have had him in front of Torres, but for two or three years at Liverpool, Torres was outstanding and one of the best strikers in the world.

Owen and Torres were the same in that once they lost that pace, Liverpool lost their main threat. Whereas other players can adapt, they weren't technically wonderful players but to play against them at their peak, their pace was the one that killed you as a defender.

The team I've picked is one I wouldn't like to play against actually. The back four is solid, there's a midfield that can pass, can run, can cross and they could feed the front two.

Carragher's Man Utd #One2Eleven

GOALKEEPER - Peter Schmeichel

I think he's the best goalkeeper we've seen in the Premier League era, maybe one of the greatest ever and certainly during my time playing against United.

DEFENCE - Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra

That back four around 2007/08 was as good as anything in Europe. Getting through to a few Champions League finals on the bounce and certainly the centre-back partnership at that time - along with John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho, who were outstanding - I think those two partnerships were the best around.

Image: Nemanja Vidic is part of Jamie Carragher's Man Utd defence

A lot of what United did going forward in that side with Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo was based on Edwin van der Sar in goal and especially those two centre-backs and also the back four.

Evra was maybe a debatable one in terms of Denis Irwin - Manchester United fans would maybe go for him - but I played against Evra a lot more and he was outstanding, you can still see it in his career to this day.

MIDFIELD - Cristano Ronaldo, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs

It is probably one of the greatest midfields you would see in any era. I think the four was with David Beckham really if you go back to when that team played, but in Ronaldo, you can argue he is one of the greatest players we've seen in the Premier League, certainly one of two with Thierry Henry.

Image: Paul Scholes and Xabi Alonso both feature in the respective XIs

Keane, will United ever have a figure like that again? He's a fantastic central midfield player. Scholes, you would pick as your No 1, or maybe the best player you played with so that says everything about him, and Giggs is one of the most decorated players there will ever be in football.

STRIKER - Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy

Van Nistelrooy didn't win a European Cup like some of United's other great centre-forwards, but his record must be one of the best in terms of goals-per-game ratios. I wouldn't say he caused you a massive problem in games, I can't remember playing against Van Nistelrooy and thinking that, but whenever you saw him play, you just knew he was going to score.

It was either Rooney or Beckham, but I've gone for Rooney because to go there at the age he did, for the fee that he did, to do what he did on his debut, to be there for so long considering the great players United have had and by the time he walks away, he will be the top scorer in United's history.

Image: Wayne Rooney makes the front two for Carragher's #One2Eleven

You think of the players United have had, George Best, Bobby Charlton, Denis Law, and to be top scorer means he deserves his place.

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