After a lively Christmas, the people of England ushered in the 18th round of the Premier League.
On December 26, the entire Leicester City team took a train and traveled more than 190 kilometers to the Red Army, the traditional giant of the Premier League, Liverpool!
At 14:30 pm London time, the attendance at Anfield Stadium exploded, with not one of the 54,074 seats empty.
"Walk on, Walk on!"
"With hope!"
"In your heart!!"
"And you'll never walk alone!"
"You'll never walk alone!!!!"
In the stands, 50,000 Liverpool fans were singing the Liverpool You'll Never Walk Alone team anthem following the high-spirited singing on the radio. The loud and clear singing was rampant inside and outside Anfield, making the already heated atmosphere at the scene continue to heat up.
At 14:55, the players of the two teams lined up in the tunnel, led by the referee Atkinson, walked onto the snow-covered Anfield Stadium.
At the same time, the starting lineups of Liverpool and Leicester City also appeared in the live broadcast footage.
"The home team Liverpool, after going through an explosive period after Klopp took office, has entered a low period this season!"
"In the last three rounds of the Premier League, Liverpool only achieved 1 draw and 2 losses!"
"In the 15th round of the Premier League, Liverpool lost 2-0 to Newcastle United away from home."
"In the 16th round of the Premier League, Liverpool played at home and were tied 2-2 by West Bromwich Albion."
"In the last round of the Premier League, they were a guest at Watford's Vicarage Road Stadium. Klopp's Red Army were beaten by the newly promoted team and they were unable to fight back. The 3-0 score also created the most disparity since Klopp took over.
A defeat!”
Hearing Zhan Jun's introduction, Zhang Lu smiled and said: "Actually, Liverpool is losing to Toronto, and his problem lies on the defensive end!"
"Yes, this season Liverpool is the team that has conceded the third most goals among the top ten in the Premier League. They have conceded a total of 23 goals in 17 Premier League games."
"Well! After Klopp took office, he strengthened the team's pressing in the opponent's half!"
"The advantage of this is that it can stifle the opponent's offense in the midfield, but the disadvantage is that once they are unable to effectively intercept, their empty back line will be immediately exposed, allowing the opponent to take advantage of it!"
"Yes!" Zhan Jun shook his head and smiled helplessly, "And Liverpool is currently suffering from extremely serious injuries. Six players in the team are on the injury list!"
"With no one available in the defense, the main center back Skrtel needs to be sidelined for as long as six weeks due to a hamstring injury."
"So if Klopp cannot limit the performance of Chu Zheng, Vardy and Mahrez in this game, then with Leicester City's current strong firepower, they are likely to continue to suffer losses!
"
As soon as the words were said, Leicester City's starting lineup appeared.
Leicester City:(442)
Forwards: Vardy, Shinji Okazaki
Midfielder: Albrighton, Kante, Chu Zheng, Mahrez
Defenders: Fox, Huth, Morgan, Simpson
Goalkeeper: Schmeichel
"Before entering the devilish schedule of Christmas, many people were not optimistic that Leicester City would continue to win!"
"However, the fact is that Leicester City has defeated Manchester United and Chelsea since the start of the devil's schedule. Their strength is now beyond doubt!"
"Ranieri's tradition 442 looks ancient, but it has unexpected effects!"
"Hey, at this time last year, Leicester City was last in the Premier League, but now they are 7 points ahead of second-placed Arsenal, leading the Premier League standings. This is perhaps the most outrageous team in the history of the Premier League.
Yeah!" Zhang Lu laughed.
"According to statistics, in the 23 years since the birth of the Premier League, a total of 11 Christmas champions have finally won the league championship!"
"Leicester City will definitely hope to continue this pattern!"
"Chinese player Chu Zheng started this game. Chu Zheng is now the assist king in the Premier League. Of Leicester City's 47 Premier League goals this season, 19 of them were assisted by him. He is in great shape."
"If Chu Zheng can get another assist in this game, he will tie Henry's single-player season assist record set in the 2002-03 season!"
At 23:00 BJ time, the referee Atkinson blew the whistle and the game officially started.
On the field, Leicester City, wearing blue jerseys, attacked from right to left.
But after the game started, many people discovered that Leicester City's tactical strategy had changed again.
Compared to the last game against Everton, Leicester City played more proactively today, attacking the Liverpool goal as soon as they got the ball.
But in Leicester City's initiative, we can still see the shadow of defensive counterattack.
As for Liverpool, although the starting lineup arranged before the game was a 442 formation, judging from the positioning of Liverpool players on the field, Klopp actually played a 4231 formation, with Henderson and Emre Can partnering as a defensive midfielder.
Liverpool's tactical strategy still focuses on the two key words of pressing and grabbing.
But Leicester City was also very aggressive today.
Therefore, after the game started, what was presented to fans around the world was a game full of flying, running, pressing, grabbing, high confrontation, and fast pace.
This kind of fast-paced offense and defense transition game is often a wonderful battle.
The fans guessed right, and soon there was a wonderful and threatening shot on the field!
In the 3rd minute of the game, Leicester City received a throw-in from the left side of the penalty area.
Fox took three or four steps and threw the ball vigorously towards Shinji Okazaki on the midfield wing.
Shinji Okazaki got behind Liverpool right back Klein, who came up to interfere with him before taking off and heading the ball directly behind him.
The ball flew two or three meters behind Shinji Okazaki and jumped to Vardy, who was also on the wing.
Vardy resisted Liverpool's right center back Lovren, who was coming from behind, and lifted his foot to unload the ball.
However, under the interference of Lovren, Vardy stopped the ball towards the center line one meter away in front of him, allowing Klein, who was retreating along the sideline, to pick it up.
Klein didn't stick to the ball. When the ball bounced in front of him, he kept passing the ball across.
The ball rolled along the center line to the left rib of the center circle, allowing Emre Can to get it.
However, before Emre Can could stop the ball, Chu Zheng rushed up along the ribs and accurately kicked the ball away from Emre Can.
Just as the ball was about to fly towards Shinji Okazaki in the front rib area, Henderson suddenly appeared and raised his left foot to intercept the ball.
At this moment, Chu Zheng, Shinji Okazaki, Vardy on the wing, and Mahrez on the right side of the center circle of Chu Zheng moved at the same time. The four of them were like a net surrounding Henderson.
But Henderson was extremely alert and did not make any adjustments after stopping the ball. He raised his foot and passed the ball across the center circle.
Mahrez took a step forward slowly, and the ball slipped past his toes and came to the feet of Moreno at the penalty spot in the center circle.
Seeing the ball being moved to the weak side of the defense, Chu Zheng quickly called out and directed his teammates to retreat and form a defensive front.
From Liverpool's left wing, Moreno started to speed up and quickly advanced along the ribs.
In front of the upper left corner of the penalty area, Mahrezka, who retreated in time, entangled Moreno inside.
Seeing that Simpson, Morgan, and Huth were targeting Firmino and Origi, and their teammates at the back point were not yet in place to outflank him, Moreno immediately chose to split forward to the left.
After Liverpool midfielder Coutinho got the ball, facing Simpson's defense, this guy relied on his delicate foot skills to first make a fake pass, then quickly dialed the ball out and broke into the left rib area at the top of the arc.
He took the ball through the upper left corner of the penalty area, but when Simpson still didn't make the move, Coutinho shot a cloud-piercing arrow.
The ball flew over Firmino's head in the penalty area, and then fell quickly, with strong side spin and a wide arc.
In front of the goal line, Schmeichel judged that the ball was within the goal area, and he quickly pounced to the left.
However, the next second, Chu Zheng appeared on the end line of the small penalty area, raised his right foot and took the ball that was about to bounce off the ground directly to the left sideline.
"fool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Suddenly Anfield was filled with exclamations!
"Chu Zheng appeared too timely for this goal!!!" Zhan Jun said with a loud voice.
"Coutinho's shot was very sneaky. The ball did not go directly to the goal. Looking at the downward trend, the ball would bounce on the end line of the small penalty area. This kind of bounce shot will increase the goalkeeper's pain.
Difficulty in saving!”
"If it weren't for Chu Zheng, Schmeichel might not be able to save Coutinho's powerful and arcing long-range shot!"
"It's okay! Isn't Chu Zheng here? He accurately judged the landing point!" Zhan Jun said happily.
On the sidelines, Klopp was also full of regret!
Chu Zheng's miraculous sense of crisis and positioning have already been taught to him several times in the Bundesliga!
Soon, Leicester City's first shot came.
In the 5th minute of the game, Leicester City pressed forward from all fronts, and even Morgan and Huth passed the halfway line.
Morgan received a pass from frontcourt Chu Zheng on the arc in the right center circle.
Seeing Chu Zheng pointing in the direction of Schmeichel, Morgan, who was about to turn back and transfer the ball laterally to the left, immediately did so.
Countless facts have proven that there is absolutely nothing wrong with listening to your own midfielder’s brain.
So the ball passed straight back to Schmeichel in the penalty area.
After passing the ball, Morgan, who retreated, looked back and found Firmino in the center circle behind him.
Suddenly he was secretly afraid!
If he hadn't listened to Chu Zheng just now and turned around to transfer the ball, then based on Firmino's position at that time, and if the time it took for him to turn around was included, Firmino might really be rushed towards him.
The ball was intercepted.
Or maybe he was directly flanked by Firmino and Origi.
Once the ball is intercepted, it will be tragic for Huth who retreats behind him, and he will directly suffer a two-on-one situation.
On the sidelines, Klopp patted the right side of his thigh!
He could clearly see that Morgan was about to turn around just now, but he was stopped by Chu Zheng. Otherwise, with Firmino's speed, he would definitely be able to quickly stick to Morgan or successfully intercept it.