Alan Shearer has made some very strange choices when selecting his combined Manchester City, Liverpool XI ahead of their clash at Anfield on Sunday.

City could be nine points behind league-leaders Arsenalby the time they kick-off after the Gunners host Sunderland on Saturday, while Liverpool will be desperate for three points as they look to keep pace with Manchester United and Chelsea in the race for Champion League qualification.

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A game which featured some of the very best footballers at their peaks not all that long ago when Jurgen Klopp remained in the Liverpool dugout to do battle with Pep Guardiola no longer boasts such quality, but that in no way excuses the Shearer’s selection.

Among the Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer most conspicuous picks saw him opt for Andy Robertson over Nico O’Reilly and Jeremie Frimpong over Matheus Nunes (or frankly whoever else happens to be playing there for City).

The pundit selected Mohamed Salah when?even Arne Slot doesn’t even?really?want to at the expense of Antoine Semenyo, and also failed to find a spot for Rayan Cherki, who’s been outstanding in his debut season.

Alisson over Gianluigi Donnarumma is also an odd call on the basis of their form this season.

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.

There will also be a few eyebrows raised over Van Dijk’s inclusion on the back of a number of mistakes from the Liverpool captain this season.

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In a Sky Sports interview with Gary Neville, Van Dijk insists Liverpool remain on course for a “special” season despite their Premier League struggles.

“One hundred per cent,” Van Dijk replied when asked by 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.”