Manchester City host Tottenham on Saturday (5.30pm kick-off) hoping to get back to winning ways in the Premier League.

Pep Guardiola’s side were comprehensively outplayed and indeed thumped 4-0 by Everton last weekend, with their fifth league defeat of the season all but ending their slim title hopes.

The result saw them miss the chance to leapfrog Arsenal into fourth after their win at Swansea the day before, and they now trail Antonio Conte’s league leaders Chelsea by ten points with just 17 games to go.

However, they’ll hope for home comforts on Saturday when an in-form Tottenham visit the Etihad Stadium, hoping to record a seventh successive Premier League victory.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men battered West Brom last weekend to go second in the table, just seven points behind Chelsea, and they’ll look to last year’s 2-1 win at the Etihad as inspiration for this weekend’s encounter.

With the build-up well underway to Saturday’s clash, we at Shoot! have selected the ultimate combined Manchester City and Tottenham XI from the respective squads.

Thus, here are the ELEVEN men that made the cut…

Hugo Lloris

First position is a bit of a no brainer, with Tottenham’s Huge Lloris comfortably better than his City counterpart Claudio Bravo.

The Spurs captain has been excellent ever since he moved from Lyon back in 2012, and is big part of a Tottenham defence that are consistently strong and difficult to beat.

In contrast, Bravo, who signed from Barcelona last year, is hugely vulnerable and has made several mistakes this season, with it arguable that Man City’s best goalkeeper is the one that is currently on loan at Torino.

Nonetheless, Lloris gets the nod ahead of Bravo, who really must improve if City are to challenge for the title.

Kyle Walker

It’s no secret that City’s biggest issues lay in their defence and, although Bacary Sagna has probably been the best of a bad bunch this season, he has been nowhere near as good as Kyle Walker.

The 26-year-old went through a tricky spell a few years ago, but he has been reinvigorated under Pochettino in recent seasons, and is now England’s undisputed number one right-back.

Walker, like Danny Rose, has been excellent down the flanks for Spurs this season, but he has also improved his defensive work, and is part of a Tottenham defence which has conceded a league-low 14 goals thus far.

City have struggled defensively throughout much of the campaign, to the point that Guardiola chops and changes repeatedly, so Walker comfortably gets into this combined eleven.

Toby Alderweireld

Arguably the best defender in last season’s Premier League, Toby Alderweireld has been nothing short of sensational since he arrived in England in 2014.

The Belgian international initially joined Southampton on loan in the summer of 2014 and excelled at the heart of Ronald Koeman’s defence, before joining Spurs the following year.

And, since then, Alderweireld has developed into one of the most dependable centre-backs in the country, who appeared in every Premier League game last season for a Spurs side that conceded a joint-best 35 goals.

Although he has suffered from injury this season, the 27-year-old has seamlessly slotted back into the Spurs backline and, alongside Jan Vertonghen, has continued to flourish, upholding the widely-held view that they are the best central defensive pairing in the division.

Jan Vertonghen

Injury in the win over West Brom last weekend may have cut short Jan Vertonghen’s season, but he has more than played his part in Tottenham’s excellent first half of the campaign.

Alderweireld’s injury back in October could have rocked Spurs defensively, but his Belgian teammate Vertonghen has been the man to hold things together and keep them solid at the back.

The 29-year-old has appeared in all but one of their Premier League games this season, and he’ll be badly missed over the coming months after injury ruled him out for much of the campaign.

Nonetheless, Vertonghen is better than Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones, and easily gets into the heart of this defence alongside club and country teammate Alderweireld.

Danny Rose

Trying to make a case for any City defenders to get into this team is not easy and, when Danny Rose has performed as well as he has this season, it’s a Spurs clean sweep across the back four.

The England international, who has made the left-back spot his own over the last 12 months, has been arguably the best full-back in the Premier League this season, netting twice and laying on two assists to help Pochettino’s side to second in the table.

Both as a full-back in a back four and indeed a wing-back, the 26-year-old provides Spurs with an attacking option down the left-hand-side, and also has the energy and tenacity to get back and help out defensively, an area of his game that has improved dramatically in recent seasons.

Rose has regularly been one of Tottenham’s highest rated players this season, and comfortably make this side ahead of Gael Clichy and Aleksandar Kolarov.

Fernandinho

Victor Wanyama has been excellent for Tottenham this season, but Fernandinho is one of the most underrated players in the Premier League, and his continued success in the City midfield and his importance to his team which means that he just gets the nod.

The Brazilian international came to England back in 2013 as a relative unknown, but he has been the beating heart of the City midfield since then under managers Manuel Pellegrini and Pep Guardiola.

Although he has had a few disciplinary issues this season, the 31-year-old is integral to this City side, notably the way they keep the ball in the middle of the park and transfer defence into attack, which makes it even more surprising that he hasn’t signed a new deal at the Etihad beyond this season.

Mousa Dembele

When it comes to underrated footballers, there aren’t many criminally underrated in the Premier League like Spurs’ Mousa Dembele.

The Belgian international is one of the best central defensive midfielders in the league, as he can do everything asked of a player in that position – he is excellent on the ball but also strong in the tackle, and has great vision to launch attacks, as well as snuff out opposition ones.

The more industrious Fernandinho would complement the more technical Dembele in this midfield, which is why they both get the nod ahead of Wanyama, Yaya Toure, and Eric Dier.

Christian Eriksen

Christian Eriksen’s form in recent months has been the sort of form we have seen from the Danish international since he moved to Spurs back in 2013.

The 24-year-old has netted five goals and laid on eight assists in the Premier League this season, and he’s well on his way to surpassing last season’s tallies of six goals and 13 assists, which was his best combined effort ever in the top-flight.

Eriksen has always been highly-rated, but is sometimes absent when Spurs really need him most – that cannot be said of this season, as he has contributed to ten goals in their last eight league games.

His undoubted ability throughout his time in England means he gets this spot ahead of Raheem Sterling, who needs to bring more consistency to his game.

Kevin De Bruyne

Kevin De Bruyne went away and rebuilt his career in Germany after a barren spell at Chelsea, and he is now reaping the rewards from such a decision.

The Belgian international earned a big money move to City back in 2015, and scored 15 goals in his first season at the Etihad, as well as laying on nine assists in the Premier League.

Although he hasn’t scored as many as he would have liked this season (he’s currently on three for the campaign), De Bruyne has already equalled last season’s assists tally, which is the most of any player in the top-flight.

The 25-year-old is a match-winner, and has proven to be a key player for City over recent times, and indeed will be for the foreseeable future.

Dele Alli

David Silva has been magnificent for Manchester City since he arrived in England back in 2010, yet Dele Alli has been equally impressive since moving to Tottenham in 2015.

Thus, it’s difficult to decide between the two so, based purely on recent form, we’ve plumped with Spurs’ Alli.

The England international has scored seven goals in his last five Premier League games for Tottenham, and also got an assist for Harry Kane in the 4-0 win over West Brom last weekend.

Alli’s recent form means that he has already surpassed last season’s goal tally of ten and, based on how good he was last season, he must be going some this time round as well.

Both are quality players, but Alli’s excellent form in the last few weeks means he just pips the Spaniard.

Sergio Aguero

Like before, deciding between Sergio Aguero and Harry Kane is no easy task, but the Argentine international just gets the nod based on his brilliance over a number of years.

This season may not feel like his greatest in a Manchester City shirt, but he has still scored 11 Premier League goals in just 15 appearances, and a total of 18 in 22 games for the club in all competitions.

Thus, Aguero is actually on track to beat his best season tally at City, which was back in the 2014/15 campaign when he netted 32 goals, and continues to be one of a few world-class strikers in the Premier League.

Kane is certainly on his way to becoming one, and Aguero’s goal-rate and overall forward play must be the aim for the Englishman.