Ahead of Arsenal's trip to Manchester United on Monday night, we challenged Gunners legend Paul Merson to pick his best combined XI from the two squads.
Merse is backing Olivier Giroud to lead his line, with Wayne Rooney and Alexis Sanchez preferred to Angel di Maria, Juan Mata and Mesut Ozil.
Danny Blind is in charge of protecting the back four rather than Francis Coquelin, but the creativity in central midfield comes from an Arsenal pairing.
There's a combination of Louis van Gaal and Arsene Wenger's defences, while David de Gea, who kept his ninth clean sheet of the season at Newcastle on Wednesday, is preferred in goal.
MERSON'S COMBINED XI (4-3-2-1): David de Gea; Kieran Gibbs, Marcos Rojo, Laurent Koscielny, Antonio Valencia; Santi Cazorla, Daley Blind, Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain; Alexis Sanchez, Wayne Rooney; Olivier Giroud
Merson's combined Arsenal and Manchester United XI
The Soccer Saturday pundit told Sky Sports: "I normally find it really easy to pick a combined starting line-up but it was actually incredibly difficult due to their inconsistencies, especially choosing who would play in defence.
"It sums it up for both back fours that I’d consider Michael Carrick as one of the best centre-backs but Rojo edges him as a slightly better defender.
"United have been struggling and were lucky to get the win over Newcastle. De Gea being their best player says it all.
"Blind is a class player and just edges Coquelin, while Ashley Young is unlucky not to get in as he's been one of United’s better players.
"For me, Rooney has to play anywhere in the final third – his run of not having a shot for that long was ridiculous.
"Di Maria would have been in there at the start of the season but it just shows how hard this league is when you’ve got a player of his quality struggling."
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