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Sergio Aguero, Mesut Ozil and Dele Alli make Charlie Nicholas's top-four combined XI

Nicholas

On Friday, Thierry Henry picked his combined XI from the current Premier League top-four.

Arsenal's Hector Bellerin, Leicester's Jamie Vardy, Tottenham's Dele Alli and Manchester City's Sergio Aguero were among the players to make the cut in his team. 

Now, Soccer Saturday pundit Charlie Nicholas has selected his best XI from players at Arsenal, Leicester, Man City and Tottenham. 

Here's who made his team...

Charlie Nicholas' top-four best XI

"People are obviously going to question Riyad Mahrez, who I'm fully behind for player of the year, and Jamie Vardy not being in my selection but I've picked my side to suit a certain style, and how do I leave out Sergio Aguero? He's up there with anyone other than Lionel Messi right now.

"This team is picked on what they can do on their day and, in Danny Drinkwater's case, what he had to suffer last season with no complaints." 

GOALKEEPER

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Petr Cech of Arsenal claps the fans
Image: Petr Cech has impressed Charlie Nicholas this season

"Kasper Schmeichel and Joe Hart are great keepers but it's Hugo Lloris who is closest to Petr Cech. Lloris is probably better at playing the sweeper role with his pace and ability to read the situation, but I have to go with the Arsenal man because he's the signing that has kept Arsenal in the title race."

DEFENDERS

Toby Alderweireld: Made a costly error against Stoke City.
Image: Tottenham's Toby Alderweireld makes Nicholas' selection

"It's a tough one at right-back as I don't think there are any exceptional options, but I've gone with Kyle Walker because he's an absolute beast of an athlete and has more ability than Hector Bellerin. Pablo Zabaleta should be the player I'm picking but he hasn't done anything this season.

"Then on the left I'm going with Christian Fuchs as he's been tremendously consistent for Leicester. He does the basics right every time and, while he's the least ambitious of the options, he's the one I'd trust.

Charlie predicts
Charlie predicts

Find out what Charlie Nicholas is tipping up at 30/1 for Manchester City v Tottenham here.

"There are a lot of great options at centre-back but I have to go with Toby Alderweireld and Wes Morgan. Alderweireld has probably been the most consistent defender for me. He's a solid unit and more. How many times have we seen him play that lovely diagonal to Dele Alli? Then there's Morgan, who is just a muscle unit. He does exactly what's said on the tin and sometimes I just like seeing defenders doing the basics. Laurent Koscielny should be in there but he's just not reached the levels he's capable of."

MIDFIELD

Danny Drinkwater celebrates after scoring to make it 1-0 during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Stoke City at the King Power Stadium
Image: Danny Drinkwater deserves recognition, says Nicholas

"My holding midfielder would be Eric Dier. He's calm on the ball, never in a rush, and can get physical and upset the fluency of the game when he needs to. He will be the most important Spurs player against City on Sunday.

"Alongside him I want to give Danny Drinkwater the recognition he deserves. He had to suffer on the bench last season and everyone said they're going to struggle to replace Esteban Cambiasso but his team-work and passing allows other players to do what they do.

"My more advanced trio starts with Alexis Sanchez on the left. He makes goals and scores goals and defenders hate him because of his movement.

"In the middle it's Mesut Ozil, who is just a superstar of a footballer. Everything is controlled and he really does see a wonderful picture of the game. Then there's Alli. He scored a goal of the class of Dennis Bergkamp and if he doesn't win Young Player of the Year I'll buy all the Soccer Saturday boys a drink. He may be on the right but I'd give him license to go wherever he wants."

ATTACK

Sergio Aguero of Manchester City celebrates scoring his fourth and team's fifth goal
Image: Sergio Aguero is among the world's best, says Nicholas

"Then up front I have to go with the best striker in the Premier League, Sergio Aguero. It took him a while to get going again after his injury but now he's on form there's no stopping him. You can put pace against him, get physical with him, it doesn't matter. He is just a special, special player."

Watch Arsenal v Leicester from 11.30am and Man City v Tottenham from 4pm, live on Sky Sports 1HD on Sunday

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