Manchester City play host to Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium in the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final on Wednesday night.
City, who also lifted the trophy in 2018 and 2019, hold a 3-1 advantage from the opening fixture after a first-half blitz at Old Trafford.
Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez and an own goal from Andreas Pereira provided Pep Guardiola's with a sizeable lead, before Marcus Rashford added a consolation after the break.
Since that clash on January 14, City have recorded three wins from four attempts in all competitions, with the 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace their only setback.
While United have progressed through to the FA Cup fifth round, Premier League defeats versus Liverpool and Burnley respectively have piled the pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Here, Sports Mole selects its strongest combined XI from the two squads, using only players available for the meeting in the North-West.
Ederson and David de Gea have not produced their best form this season, but the City stopper would get the nod with us having made fewer individual mistakes than his opposite number.
While the selection of Kyle Walker at right-back is fairly clear cut, it is a different story with regards to the rest of the backline with over half-a-dozen players realistic options for three places.
With the likes of Benjamin Mendy and Oleksandr Zinchenko having been inconsistent this season, we go for United youngster Brandon Williams, who has recently dislodged Luke Shaw at left-back.
At centre-back, we have decided to combine the leadership and tenacity of Fernandinho and Harry Maguire, rather than opt for John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi or Victor Lindelof.
The remainder of the team does not make good viewing for United supporters, and we were not exactly pushed to include any of their forward players in our team.
Rodri is the obvious the pick in a defensive-midfield role, with Ilkay Gundogan acting as the link in the centre of the pitch and Kevin De Bruyne being given more freedom to influence the match.
By choosing Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling, we have both creativity and speed, rather than focusing on the pace and directness of Daniel James and Mason Greenwood.
Down the middle, it was a straight choice between Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero, with the latter being preferred due to having netted seven goals from four outings since the turn of the year.
Darren Plant
