This weekend sees a cracker of a game in prospect between West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa.

The local rivals meet at the Hawthorns with both needing the points to aid their respective promotion pushes.

Darren Moore’s side need a win if they are to keep pace with the Norwich City and Leeds United, both of whom currently occupy the top two spots in the division.

Dean Smith, meanwhile, will be hoping his side can pull off their second successive derby day delight having seen off Birmingham two weeks ago.

A win for the Villans could see them move into the playoff places for the first time under Smith before the Saturday afternoon fixtures kick-off.

Both sides are going great guns the moment and have been impressive in recent weeks.

With that said, we here at FLW have decided to make a combined XI between the two sides ahead of this weekend’s grudge match between West Brom and Aston Villa.

An easy decision to pick Sam Johnstone over Orjan Nyland - the West Brom man is simply more reliable.

He has been far more consistent than his Aston Villa counterpart, despite keeping fewer clean sheets.

The renaissance man at Aston Villa, he is playing some of the best football of his career and is a cert for the combined XI.

Aston Villa’s captain has been impressive at the back but in advances areas, too, so it is a natural choice to have the combative defender in the side.

Often an unsung hero at the Hawthorns, the defender is a mammoth reason they find themselves in their current position in the league.

A vital member of Darren Moore’s side and one of the first names in this combined XI.

Having the season of his life and performing well on a consistent basis.

More adept in wingback role, he has provided West Brom with an extra body in attack as well as a dependable hand at the back.

Full of pace and tricks, the Everton loanee has been unlucky not to start more, but that was down to a long-term injury before his loan to Villa Park.

Yannick Bolasie is one of the most creative players in the league let alone at Aston Villa.

The Leicester Loanee is on form and has been for the whole season, consistently performing beyond his year and scoring eight goals in 20 appearances.

At just 20-years-old, his talent and potential and incomprehensible at present.

Having been moved inside to the middle more by Darren Moore, the West Brom man has had a complete change of fortune in the side.

More effective and more involved, Matt Phillips is turning out to be one of their players of the season.

Since being moved to a more advanced role under Dean Smith, Jack Grealish has flourished playing behind the sole striker at Aston Villa.

Finding his feet in a new position and looking back to his best, it’s easy to see why the 23-year-old has been included.

On loan from Chelsea, Tammy Abraham has scored 11 goals in 14 appearances for the club, including four in a 5-5 draw with Nottingham Forest last month.

The 21-year-old is on fire for Aston Villa at present.

Dwight Gayle has been equality impressive for West Brom this term as Tammy Abraham has been for Aston Villa.

The Newcastle loanee has nine goals in 17 appearances this term and has been one of the main reasons why the Baggies have been mixing it with the top two for most of the campaign.