This game is very friendly to Chinese fans. The kick-off time is at 20:30 BJ time, so there is no need to stay up late at night to watch the game.
But until the start of the game was approaching, there was still no signal in the LeTV live broadcast room.
Countless fans called LeTV Sports directly and found out that the live broadcast equipment had a temporary malfunction.
"Welcome to watch the double-blue battle between Manchester City and Chelsea in the 14th round of the Premier League brought to you by LeTV Sports..."
At 20:28, countless players waiting in front of the screen breathed a sigh of relief when they heard Zhan Jun's voice and the live broadcast screen appeared.
As soon as the live broadcast footage appeared, more than half of Manchester City's starting lineup was already listed on the screen. Fortunately, we caught up in time.
In the LeTV live broadcast room, after announcing the opening remarks at a very fast speed, Zhan Jun's eyes were filled with surprise when he saw the lineup arranged by Manchester City. He said: "Guardiola has arranged a three-center-back system today."
"Are you going to retaliate in kind?" Zhan Jun said with a smile, completely unable to guess Guardiola's true intention.
But this is Guardiola. Zhan Jun only hopes that Guardiola will not play to death in the end.
Conte has his own unique understanding of the 343 formation, otherwise there would be no limit to this excellent result.
Taking advantage of others' strengths with one's own shortcomings may not be a wise choice.
"It could also be a smoke bomb!" Zhang Lu added with a smile, "The three central defenders should not change much after the start of the game, but Chu Zheng and De Bruyne should receive Aguero from behind after the start of the game.
It’s a 3421 formation.”
"And Fernandinho and Gundogan should work as a double defensive midfielder!"
"Yeah! It's indeed possible." Zhan Jun nodded, and then showed a teasing look on his face, "What's interesting is that Yaya Toure has entered Guardiola's starting list today, and the live cameras frequently show him."
"Apologise!" Zhang Lu laughed, "Guardiola must have been waiting for a long time."
"Haha!" Zhan Jun was overjoyed and began to explain, "The soap opera directed and acted by Yaya Toure has been going on before the start of this season.
"At that time, there were media reports that Yaya Toure and Chu Zheng were fighting in the Manchester City team, and then nothing happened."
Later, because Guardiola did not put Yaya Toure into the starting lineup, his agent publicly criticized Guardiola through the media, and his words were extremely harsh. This directly led to Yaya Toure being shelved for a long time, and Manchester City officially asked his agent to
Seluk apologized.
But Seluk refused to admit he was wrong.
So the two sides remained in a stalemate until the 1st of this month, when Yaya Toure officially issued a statement apologizing to all members of the Manchester City club and coaching team on behalf of himself and his agent Seluk."
"Then he was on the bench!" Zhang Lu, who was laughing, interrupted.
"There is nothing much that can be done to improve if you admit your mistakes. Guardiola has always emphasized that there is no personal grudge between him and Yaya Toure, so Guardiola chose to forgive him!" Zhan Jun said this even though he himself did not believe it.
Zhang Lu nodded and said: "But this is good news for Manchester City."
"Yes, due to frequent battles recently, many players in the Manchester City team have also suffered injuries. Although they are not serious and can be recovered after a week or two of rest, one after another is not a small trouble for Guardiola."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chelsea's starting lineup appeared.
Chelsea:343
Forwards: Hazard, Diego Costa, Pedro
Midfielder: Max Alonso, Cesc Fabregas, Kante, Moses
Defenders: Cahill, David Luiz, Azpilicueta
Goalkeeper: Courtois
"The two teams have met 153 times in history, and Chelsea has the upper hand with 62 wins, 39 draws and 52 losses."
"However, the statistics of recent matches between the two sides are dominated by Manchester City. Last season, Manchester City beat Chelsea at home and away, scoring a total of 6 goals and not conceding a single goal."
"The last time Chelsea defeated Manchester City was in February 2014."
"After defeating Tottenham 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in the last round, Chelsea has won 7 consecutive victories. If they can continue to defeat Manchester City today, Chelsea will win 8 consecutive league games for the first time since 2010."
"The current 7-game winning streak is Chelsea's longest winning streak in a single season since the 9-game winning streak in the 2006-07 season."
"At the end of the 13th round of the Premier League, Chelsea currently tops the Premier League with 31 points, followed by Liverpool with 30 points."
"Manchester City also has 30 points, but because of a goal difference disadvantage, they can only be ranked third."
"So as long as Manchester City can beat Chelsea today, they will regain the top spot in the Premier League."
"In terms of personnel, compared with the last round of the game against Tottenham, there are not many changes, except for one position change."
"Matic suffered a minor muscle injury, so he was not included in the starting lineup today. He was replaced by Fabregas, partnering with Kanter as a double midfielder."
After Zhan Jun finished speaking, Zhang Lu said: "This personnel change is a bit unexpected, and I didn't win the Oscar."
"Before the game, Conte said that Fabregas was in very good condition and that he was able to show his full value today. He believed that Cesc Fabregas would not betray his trust."
Zhang Lu chuckled, shook her head and said nothing.
In Zhang Lu's view, Cesc Fabregas, who is strong offensively and weak defensively, is a double-edged sword for Chelsea.
His appearance will inevitably weaken Chelsea's midfielder's defensive ability. It seems that what Conte wants is Fabregas' offensive ability.
But in this way, Kanter's pressure will be greater, because he has to face Manchester City's luxurious striker.
At exactly 20:30 BJ time, with the whistle of the referee Anthony Taylor, this world-famous double-blue first-place battle officially started.
After the game started, just as Zhang Lu expected, Chu Zheng and De Bruyne indeed got behind Aguero and played in the inside position.
Compared with Pedro and Hazard who are relatively far apart, Chu Zheng and De Brau are closer to each other.
What is shocking is that Guardiola took a different approach today.
Gundogan's position is not parallel to Fernandinho's, but frequently inserts from behind. Even Fernandinho is not so content.
As a result, only Otamendi, Stones and Kolarov remain in the Manchester City backcourt.
Moreover, Kolarov is famous for providing assists in the future, which means that Guardiola started the most important championship battle so far this season with a lineup of 2.5 defenders.
Zhang Lu, who is very sensitive to tactics, also immediately discovered Guardiola's crazy move today.
For a moment, I couldn't help but be impressed by Guardiola's courage to dare to think and act.
On the field, seeing Manchester City's crazy energy, Conte was a little dumbfounded and was shocked by Guardiola's crazy behavior.
