Ederson and Sterling fail to make Chelsea and Man City combined XI
Manchester City ended their Champions League quarter-final curse in midweek and now attentions turn to Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against rivals Chelsea.
Pep Guardiola has been keen to avoid talk of the quadruple this season but victory this weekend would certainly put them on the right path.
Thomas Tuchel could yet cap a remarkable start to life as Chelsea manager with two pieces of silverware. These two could even face off in the Champions League final if they both win their respective semi-finals.
First, however, is a trip to Wembley on Saturday. In the build-up to it, we have put together a combined XI using our player ratings from all competitions this season, excluding those unavailable and with less than 15 appearances.
There are talking points right from the very off. City fans will no doubt prefer Ederson due to his ability on the ball, but Edouard Mendy has certainly been an upgrade on Kepa in his debut campaign for Chelsea. Mendy has kept 21 clean sheets in 36 appearances in all competitions this season, while Ederson has 23 from 40 games.
Ruben Dias has made a huge impact on City's defence this season but he actually misses out on our XI. His defensive partner, John Stones, takes one spot after a stunning return to form this season, while Chelsea's Kurt Zouma partners him. Zouma started the campaign in remarkable fashion under Frank Lampard and has recently found the goals again despite dipping in and out of the side under Tuchel.
In fact, Zouma is only one goal off Chelsea's leading goalscorer in the Premier League this season. The French centre-back has damningly scored as many times as Werner in the league this season and more than Christian Pulisic. Such an eye for goal has certainly helped prop up an impressive WhoScored rating. He is joined in defence by Chelsea team-mate Ben Chilwell at left-back, admitedly up against little competition, with City's Joao Cancelo edging England duo Kyle Walker and Reece James at right-back.
There are no real surprises in midfield. Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan have been in superb form for the Premier League leaders this season. In fact, Gundogan's return of 16 goals in all competitions this season is actually more than any player on either side. The City duo are joined in midfield by arguably Chelsea's player of the season, Mason Mount. N'Golo Kante, Rodri, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic miss out as a result, though the latter is injured anyway.
The jury remains out whether Gabriel Jesus has what it takes to succeed Sergio Aguero but he makes our XI, beating out Raheem Sterling for a place in the XI. Jesus has scored as many goals as Sterling in all competitions this season (13), but reached that figure from eight fewer appearances. Chelsea quartest Kai Havertz, Werner, Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech can have no complaints of missing out after thoroughly disappointing campaigns.
Phil Foden has really stepped up a gear for City this season and should really be a first-team regular for England at Euro 2020 this summer. The 20-year-old flanks Jesus along with City team-mate Riyad Mahrez.
