Van Persie and Aguero both miss out in combined Manchester XI

It’s supposed to be one of the most fiercely competitive rivalries in football, but the first Manchester derby of the season was woefully lopsided and set polar opposite tones for either club.

Now Man City head to Old Trafford as almost unheard of favourites, at 11/10 to complete the double over their rivals, while United are 12/5 to salvage some pride.

Those match odds are reflected in our attempts to combine the squad’s of the two sides, with City running out clear 7-4 winners in terms of representatives and pointing to another difficult derby day for their United enemies.

In the middle of an impressive season, David De Gea lands the gloves over his two City contemporaries, neither of whom seem able to land the Citizens role on a permanent basis.

Charged with helping De Gea deny opposition goals, the back four is a half-and-half mix of red and light blue jersey’s, with Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta two of the best players in their positions in the entire league. They are joined by Patrice Evra and Phil Jones, who is enjoying a solid run of form at centre-back.

Further forward is where City exert their dominance, with five of the next six slots occupied by men under Manuel Pellegrini’s charge.

Fernandinho and James Milner make the centre of midfield a tirelessly energetic place, while Yaya Toure plays ahead of them with no need to worry about performing the usual defensive duties he’s saddled with when deployed alongside his Brazilian teammate.

Samir Nasri and David Silva occupy the wings having assisted their teammates with 12 goals between them this term, while scoring nine more themselves.

A long way from any familiar faces, Wayne Rooney is picked to lead the line, leaving no room for either Robin van Persie or Sergio Aguero in the XI.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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