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Premier League | Gameweek 22
Jan 11, 2020 at 5.30pm UK
 
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All-time Premier League combined XI: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Liverpool

:Headline: All-time Premier League combined XI: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Liverpool: ID:385339: from db_amp
Ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, Sports Mole selects its strongest combined XI from the Premier League era.

Only two of the current 'big six' in the Premier League have not yet lifted the trophy, and they will go head to head on Saturday as Tottenham Hotspur host Liverpool.

The visitors are well on course to break their own 30-year drought as they go into the weekend with a 13-point lead at the top of the table, having dropped only two points from the 60 on offer in their opening 20 games.

Despite the lack of Premier League silverware for both sides so far, these two clubs have boasted some of the greatest players the division has ever seen throughout its 27-year history.

Here, Sports Mole takes on the impossible task of selecting its all-time Premier League combined XI from both clubs since the competition began in 1992.



Goalkeeper: Pepe Reina

Alisson Becker is perhaps the best goalkeeper in world football right now, while Hugo Lloris is a World Cup-winning captain, but when it comes to performances in the Premier League it is Pepe Reina who gets the gloves in this XI.

The Spaniard made almost 300 top-flight appearances for Liverpool during his eight-year reign as undisputed number one, keeping 114 clean sheets in that time to leave him fourth on the all-time list for the Premier League.

That clean sheet tally includes three successive Golden Gloves from 2005 to 2008 - one of only two goalkeepers to have won that particular award three seasons in a row.

Honourable mentions: Hugo Lloris, Alisson Becker



Right-back: Trent Alexander-Arnold

At just 21 years old, Trent Alexander-Arnold is still very much in the embryonic stages of his Premier League career, but already he has reached a level that none of his Premier League right-back predecessors at Tottenham or Liverpool have managed.

The England international has only made 75 appearances in the top flight but already boasts a PFA Team of the Year inclusion, two Liverpool Young Player of the Year awards, a runners-up finish last season and, barring an unprecedented collapse, will scoop his first Premier League title this season.

Alexander-Arnold's performances in 2019 saw him nominated for the prestigious Ballon d'Or award, which is something those in the honourable mentions have always been some way away from.

Honourable mentions: Kyle Walker, Markus Babbel, Stephen Carr, Kieran Trippier, Steve Finnan



Centre-backs: Jamie Carragher, Virgil van Dijk

Tottenham fans will no doubt be up in arms about Ledley King missing out on a place in this team, but his is a story of unfulfilled potential given his injury problems and he only twice made more than 30 appearances in a single Premier League season.

Jamie Carragher, meanwhile, made more than 30 appearances in 11 separate seasons and ended his career having played almost twice as many top-flight games as King, hanging up his boots in 2013 with 508 Premier League outings to his name - a tally which leaves him in the all-time top 10.

Carragher was named in the PFA Team of the Year in 2005-06 and helped Liverpool to a pair of second-placed finishes during his time at the club, although the main prize eluded him.

It may not elude Virgil van Dijk, though, with the Dutch colossus having almost single-handedly turned Liverpool into title contenders since his arrival.

Van Dijk was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season for 2018-19, going on to finish second in the Ballon d'Or voting in 2019 - the first Premier League player since Cristiano Ronaldo to come in the top three.

Honourable mentions: Ledley King, Sami Hyypia, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen



Left-back: Andrew Robertson

Another of Liverpool's current crop, Andrew Robertson has helped to revolutionise the full-back position along with Alexander-Arnold on the opposite flank, with the duo's friendly assist competition pushing each other to new heights.

A steal at an initial £8m from Hull City, Robertson was named in the PFA Team of the Year for 2018-19 and is now widely regarded as one of the best full-backs in world football less than four years on from suffering relegation from the top flight with Hull.

Honourable mentions: John Arne Riise, Danny Rose



Central midfielders: Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso

Steven Gerrard was the first name on this teamsheet and perhaps the only guaranteed choice, having been named in the PFA Team of the Year a record eight times during his glittering 17-year career in the Premier League.

Liverpool's captain fantastic arguably enjoyed his best moments in other competitions, while his infamous slip against Chelsea during the 2013-14 title race may well go down as his worst moment, but he remains a bona fide Premier League legend having scored 120 goals in 504 appearances in the top flight.

A winner of the PFA Young Player of the Year, PFA Players' Player of the Year, FWA Footballer of the Year and PFA Fans' Player of the Year (twice) awards during his time with Liverpool, Gerrard's status as one of the Premier League's greatest ever is secure despite him agonisingly missing out on getting his hands on the trophy.

Alongside him is a midfield partner he ranks as his best from his time with Liverpool, with Xabi Alonso one of few players in Premier League history who could match Gerrard's passing ability.

The Spaniard made 143 top-flight appearances for Liverpool during his five years at the club and narrowly pips his former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric to a central midfield spot, with the Croatian enjoying his best years - including a Ballon d'Or-winning 2018 - at the Bernabeu.

Honourable mentions: Luka Modric, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, Jordan Henderson, Dietmar Hamann, Javier Mascherano, Rafael van der Vaart, Mousa Dembele



Right-wing: Mohamed Salah

Few players have taken the Premier League by storm like Mohamed Salah, who bounced back from a failed spell at Chelsea to score 32 goals in 36 top-flight matches during his first season at Liverpool - a competition record for a 38-game campaign.

The Egyptian was unsurprisingly named the PFA Player of the Year, FWA Footballer of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season in that 2017-18 campaign, and he went on to add a second consecutive Golden Boot last term, albeit shared with two other players.

Salah has since become the fastest Liverpool player to reach 50 goals for the club, both in all competitions and in the Premier League, and his top-flight tally now stands at 64 goals in just 91 appearances.

Honourable mentions: Darren Anderton



Left-wing: Gareth Bale

There are at least three players in this XI who can make a good claim to have had the best individual Premier League season ever, and Gareth Bale's 2012-13 campaign is one of them. The Welsh winger was unstoppable at times on his way to scoring 21 goals in 33 games, ultimately earning himself a world-record move to Real Madrid.

Bale was far from a one-season wonder, though; he is one of only five players to have won the PFA Player of the Year award twice and was named in the PFA Team of the Year in each of the three seasons before his departure to Spain.

The 2012-13 campaign was his zenith in England, though, as he became only the second player - after Ronaldo - to win the PFA Player of the Year, PFA Young Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year awards in the same season.

Honourable mentions: Steve McManaman, Sadio Mane, David Ginola



Centre-forwards: Luis Suarez, Harry Kane

Luis Suarez is another of those who can lay claim to the best individual Premier League campaign, having come within a whisker of leading Liverpool to the title with 31 goals in just 33 appearances in 2013-14.

The Uruguayan's time in the top flight was relatively short compared to some of the other candidates for a forward role, scoring 69 goals in 110 top-flight appearances, but he was that rarest of players who was impossible to defend against on his day.

That 2013-14 campaign saw him named the PFA Player, FWA Footballer and Premier League Player of the Season, as well as earning him a second successive inclusion in the PFA Team of the Year.

Five of the players in the honourable mentions category sit above both Suarez and Harry Kane in the list of all-time Premier League scorers, but judging them only on their times with these two teams it is impossible to ignore Tottenham's current star man.

Robbie Fowler will go down as one of the greatest goalscorers this country has ever seen, but at 26 Kane has already scored more goals for Spurs than 'God' managed for Liverpool, and the England skipper looks like the only threat to Alan Shearer's all-time Premier League tally of 260 goals.

Only Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Thierry Henry and Sergio Aguero have ever scored more goals for a single club in the Premier League, and Kane's figure is only likely to grow having established himself as one of the most consistent finishers in world football.

Kane was included in the PFA Team of the Year for four successive seasons from 2014 to 2018, in addition to being a two-time Golden Boot winner and one-time winner of the PFA Young Player and PFA Fans' Player of the Year awards.

Honourable mentions: Robbie Fowler, Fernando Torres, Roberto Firmino, Michael Owen, Robbie Keane, Teddy Sheringham, Jermain Defoe



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