Chelsea vs. Liverpool: Picking a Combined XI on Form in 2015
Liverpool travel to Chelsea's Stamford Bridge on Sunday looking to rejuvenate an increasingly desperate claim for a top-four finish in the Premier League this season, but who would make a combined XI from both sides based on this season's form?
Chelsea have walked the league in 2014/15, celebrating early last weekend after a 1-0 win at home to Crystal Palace, but will no doubt remain a challenge for the Reds.
While the Blues have been a dominant force this term, would any Liverpool players make this combined XI?
Moulded into a 4-2-3-1 formation—a favourite of both Blues boss Jose Mourinho and Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers—this XI is subjectively selected based on the overall form of each individual player throughout this season.
Rounding off with the full lineup including seven substitutes, who makes our combined Chelsea-Liverpool XI based on this season's form?
Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea)
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It's a battle of the Belgians for the No. 1 shirt in this XI, with Liverpool's Simon Mignolet and Chelsea's Thibaut Courtois both also vying for the first-choice goalkeeping spot in the Belgium national team.
On the very immediate surface in the Premier League, Mignolet could be considered the more effective goalkeeper, as the Reds No. 22 currently leads the race for the Golden Glove award with 13 clean sheets, tied with Southampton's Fraser Forster.
This truly belies the miserable form Mignolet exhibited for much of the first half of the season, and this is partially why Courtois makes the cut here. The 22-year-old has been flawless throughout 2014/15, with his aerial ability, shot-stopping prowess and stately, commanding penalty-area presence all contributing to an impeccable season.
Of Premier League goalkeepers to have made more than 10 appearances this season, only Forster (0.68) and Arsenal's David Ospina (0.54) have conceded fewer goals per 90 minutes than Courtois (0.89).
Mignolet has conceded 1.01 goals per 90 minutes on average in the league.
The Liverpool goalkeeper has improved significantly since the turn of the year, but he is still far from the overall quality of Courtois.
Right-Back: Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea)
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When considering the options for the right-back slot, only one name stands out: Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic.
The 31-year-old is seemingly evergreen in a position that is increasingly physically demanding, yet still covers so much ground for the Blues, providing a much-welcomed, persistent overlapping option.
Ivanovic is defensively adept, averaging 2.4 tackles per league game and being dribbled past just 0.4 times per game, but is perhaps even better in the attacking sector, averaging one key pass per game, as well as scoring five goals and making four assists in 35 appearances.
Neither of Liverpool's options for the position, Javier Manquillo and Glen Johnson, offer such a well-rounded and efficient contribution at right-back.
Manquillo is primarily defensive, while Johnson's tendency is to forge forward.
Ivanovic is a much more refined player than either of the Reds' right-backs, and his output this season is a testament to that.
Centre-Back: John Terry (Chelsea)
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Alongside Ivanovic in the first centre-back slot in this XI is Chelsea captain John Terry, with the 34-year-old in exceptional form throughout 2014/15 as arguably one of the Premier League's very best players.
Terry has almost become a byword for defensive solidity since coming back into the Stamford Bridge fore under Jose Mourinho and looks a better centre-back now than he did in the Portuguese's 2004/05 title-winning side.
Statistically, Terry pales behind Liverpool's Martin Skrtel, with fewer interceptions (0.9 to 1.8), clearances (six to 6.6) and blocks (0.9 to 1.4) on average per league game, as well as an equal average of tackles made (1.1) and a marginally lower passing accuracy (89.3 percent to 90.2 percent).
But this shows the fallacy of pure statistical analysis. Terry possesses an intangible defensive intuition that makes him the league's best.
The Chelsea man is head and shoulders above any other option.
Centre-Back: Mamadou Sakho (Liverpool)
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Alongside Terry, a more progressive, youthful option can be found in Liverpool's Mamadou Sakho, who edges Blues defender Gary Cahill to the left centre-back slot.
The 25-year-old has made just 15 Premier League appearances so far this season but has a convincing case to be named one of the Reds' best players for 2014/15; when he has appeared in Rodgers' back line, Liverpool have looked a much more solid outfit.
Sakho is an aggressive, front-footed centre-back, but his most impressive qualities lie in his ability in possession.
No Liverpool or Chelsea centre-back has averaged more key passes per league game this season than Sakho (0.3), with the Frenchman's direct style swiftly prompting the Reds' attacking style.
Often criticised for appearing ungainly, which is also somehow construed as being uncomfortable in possession, in truth Sakho would grace the back line of any defence in the Premier League.
Left-Back: Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
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With a trio of Spaniards and a Brazilian to choose from for the left-back position in this XI, the spot goes to perhaps the most uncharacteristic option in Cesar Azplicueta.
Transitioning from right- to left-back in recent seasons, Azpilicueta has offered an invaluable defensive balance to the Blues' back line, countering the attack-hungry Ivanovic.
With 3.1 tackles and 2.1 interceptions on average per league game this season, Azpilicueta is the most prolific and effective defensive left-back of a group that also includes Chelsea's Felipe Luis and Liverpool's Alberto Moreno and Jose Enrique.
Moreno would be the only other viable option for this position, but the 22-year-old has been remarkably inconsistent in his maiden season on Merseyside.
It would be remiss to say Azpilicueta makes the cut by default because he is such a talented full-back, but he is the only genuine option at left-back here.
Central Midfield: Nemanja Matic (Chelsea)
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Shielding the back four is the monstrous Nemanja Matic, with the Serbian fending off the variably credible challenges of Joe Allen, Ramires, Jordan Henderson, Emre Can, John Obi Mikel, Lucas Leiva and centre-back-cum-defensive-midfielder Kurt Zouma for the anchorman role in this XI.
Matic, despite tailing off towards the end of the season, has enjoyed a sensational 2014/15 presiding over a dominant Chelsea midfield.
Seemingly able to cover an entire quadrant of the pitch—from the edge of the centre circle to the edge of the penalty area—single-handed, Matic is a defensive phenomenon.
Averaging 3.6 tackles and 2.1 interceptions per league game, Matic is tied only with Liverpool's Lucas when it comes to a combined tally of defensive contribution, and while the Brazilian did make a useful impact for the Reds this season, his Chelsea counterpart remains a far classier proposition.
Matic is able to marry his defensive duties with consistent support in attack, too.
The finished article in the defensive midfield role, Matic is untouchable in this position.
Central Midfield: Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea)
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Alongside Matic is yet another Chelsea player: the majestically creative Cesc Fabregas.
After joining the Blues last summer, with former club Arsenal rejecting the opportunity to re-sign the midfielder, Fabregas has been one of the main factors behind Mourinho's dominance in the league this term.
In 32 Premier League games, Fabregas has made 17 assists—more than Liverpool's top two assist-makers, Henderson (eight) and Raheem Sterling (seven) combined.
He has also made more key passes on average per league game (2.9) than any other Chelsea or Liverpool player.
Like Matic, the Spaniard did dip in form towards the end of 2014/15, but this makes his achievements all the more remarkable; Fabregas made his telling contribution early, and without him Chelsea would not have found things quite so easy in the Premier League this season.
Right Wing: Raheem Sterling (Liverpool)
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Pipping Chelsea's Juan Cuadrado and Willian, as well as Liverpool's Jordon Ibe and Lazar Markovic, to the right-wing position, Sterling adds sheer pace, determination and dynamism to the forward line of this XI.
The 20-year-old, linked with a move to Stamford Bridge back in March by Chris Wheeler of the Daily Mail, has been one of the Reds' stand-out players this season, despite an overall poor showing from Rodgers' side.
Sterling has averaged 2.1 key passes and 2.9 dribbles per league game, as well as scoring seven goals and making seven assists in 33 appearances.
He dragged Liverpool through a tough run of fixtures in a centre-forward's role around the turn of 2015, but he remains in his perhaps natural right-sided position here.
No. 10: Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
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As reported by Sam Dymond of The Independent last month, Chelsea captain Terry revealed he had nominated Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho as his PFA Player of the Year, also naming him alongside Sterling in his Team of the Year selection.
While there is a suspicion of tactical voting here, that Coutinho was Terry's choice is a testament to the outstanding quality of the 22-year-old Brazilian this season.
Serving as Liverpool's main creative outlet in 2014/15, Coutinho has also added a goalscoring edge to his game, with a handful of now-trademark long-range curlers giving the Anfield faithful something to cheer about in a largely dismal season overall.
Coutinho was recently announced as part of Dunga's Brazil squad for the upcoming Copa America, as reported by Alex Richards of the Mirror, while Chelsea counterpart Oscar missed out.
It was revealed that Oscar was omitted due to injury, but there is a reasonable argument to suggest Coutinho is the more well-rounded and consistent player at this point in time.
Left Wing: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
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After Liverpool's Luis Suarez left for Barcelona last summer, the position of Premier League's best player was vacated, and Chelsea's Eden Hazard has duly stepped up to the plate this term.
Hazard has been in untouchable form throughout the entirety of 2014/15 and was rightly crowned the PFA Player of the Year over Coutinho last month, as reported by BBC Sport.
The 24-year-old has scored 14 goals and made eight assists in 35 league games this season, as well as averaging more key passes (2.6) and successful dribbles (4.6) combined (7.2) than any Chelsea or Liverpool player this term.
Hazard has also been named man-of-the-match more times (nine) than any other Blues or Reds player.
The Belgian would be the star of this enviable XI.
Centre-Forward: Diego Costa (Chelsea)
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With Liverpool struggling for goals through various issues with the fitness and form of Daniel Sturridge, Rickie Lambert, Mario Balotelli and Fabio Borini, and Chelsea otherwise lacking a genuine, regular goalscoring centre-forward, Brazilian-turned-Spaniard pantomime villain Diego Costa is the obvious choice here.
With 19 goals in 24 games this season, Costa's goals-per-game ratio dwarfs that of any other Chelsea or Liverpool player.
An absolute battering ram of a striker, Costa would add a bullish spearhead to an otherwise nimble forward line in this XI.
The XI and Substitutes
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Combined Chelsea-Liverpool XI based on 2014/15 form: Courtois; Ivanovic, Terry, Sakho, Azpilicueta; Matic, Fabregas; Sterling, Coutinho, Hazard; Costa
Substitutes: Mignolet, Can, Cahill, Henderson, Willian, Oscar, Sturridge
Statistics via WhoScored.com and Squawka.com.
