Alexis Sanchez, Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane make Liverpool-Arsenal combined best XIs

Sunday 27 August 2017 09:13, UK

We challenged Charlie Nicholas and Phil Thompson to select their best XIs from Liverpool and Arsenal's squads ahead of Super Sunday's showdown.

Both club legends have unsurprisingly gone with majorities from their former sides, with Petr Cech and Laurent Koscielny two defensive players to make both XIs.

Sadio Mane, Philippe Coutinho and Alexis Sanchez get the nod in both line-ups but our experts disagree on their central midfielder and strikers.

Ahead of the Sky Live clash, which is this week's selected Sky Sports Fantasy Six-a-Side fixture with £5,000 up for grabs, here's who the Soccer Saturday pundits have put in their best XIs. Want to have your say? Read on and then use the team selector below...

Thommo's team...

I'm going with Petr Cech with all of his Premier League experience and then, at right-back, young Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has been nothing short of sensational, then with James Milner on the left.

Milner didn't put a foot wrong last season, while Andrew Robertson, who had a fantastic debut, hasn't been in the side long enough.

Laurent Koscielny is Arsenal's best centre-back and Dejan Lovren is ours so I'll go with those two at the heart of my defence.

Jordan Henderson would probably get the armband, especially given Arsenal's lack of leaders, and be joined in midfield by Philippe Coutinho and Aaron Ramsey, who compliment each other nicely.

Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny wouldn't dislodge any of them and Santi Cazorla has been injured for such a long time that I can't consider him, but Emre Can was close to getting in.

In terms of my attack, Mohamed Salah has had a fantastic start but I would obviously have to have to go for Alexis Sanchez, who is a fantastic player.

People will question Roberto Firmino but he's shown he can do it in the Premier League and contributes so much more than goals to the team, whereas Alexandre Lacazette, who had a good start, has still to prove it.

Sadio Mane just picks himself. He has become integral to the way Liverpool function, the way he creates space for others with his movement, and is most vital part of Liverpool's team regardless of this debate about Coutinho's importance.

Charlie's team...

I don't think there's much debate about the goalkeeper, with Petr Cech easily winning that one, but the defence is the tough area as neither team is blessed in that department and goals look a certainty on Sunday.

Then I've gone with Nathaniel Clyne over Hector Bellerin, who struggled last season and hasn't started great, with Sead Kolasinac on the left.

I don't know why Arsene Wenger is persisting with Nacho Monreal in a back-three, the only place he can play is out wide and Kolasinac is far stronger so I'd rather have him in regardless of the formation.

I'm not Laurent Koscielny's biggest fan but he's still our best defender, whereas I think Mamadou Sakho is Liverpool's. Jurgen Klopp may not like him personally but he's their only option who can really dominate in the air, which is their biggest weakness.

I'm going for creativity in my team, which might concede four but will score five. Mesut Ozil is partnered by Santi Cazorla, who is such a vital player for Arsenal, with his blend of intelligent passes and discipline to sit and hold his position.

I've got a brilliant supporting three with the pace on Sadio Mane, Philippe Coutinho's skill and then Alexis Sanchez's blend of both.

Then to lead my line is Alexandre Lacazette. Given his record in France, I'm confident he'll score goals for Arsenal against the lesser teams but the test is whether he can deliver in the big games, so this is a big test for him.