Green Journey

Chapter 241 Focus Battle!

After a lively Christmas, the people of England ushered in the 18th round of the Premier League.

On December 12, the entire Leicester City team took a long-distance train to attack Liverpool, the traditional giants of the Premier League, more than 26 kilometers away!

At 14:30 pm London time, the attendance at Anfield exploded, and none of the 54074 seats were vacant.

"Walk on, walk on!"

"With hope!"

"In your heart!!"

"And you'll never walk alone!"

"You'll never walk alone!!!!"

In the stands, [-] Liverpool fans followed the high-spirited singing on the radio and sang the Liverpool You Never Walk Alone team anthem. The loud and neat singing rampaged inside and outside Anfield, making the already hot atmosphere continue to heat up.

At 14:55, the players of the two teams lined up in the player tunnel, led by the referee Atkinson, walked onto the Anfield stadium with snowflakes.

At the same time, the starting lineups of Liverpool and Leicester City also appeared in the live footage.

Liverpool: (442)

Goalkeeper: Mignolet

Defenders: Klein, Lovren, Sakho, Moreno

Midfielders: Lallana, Henderson, Emre Can, Coutinho
Forwards: Firmino, Origi

"After the explosive period after Klopp took office, the home team Liverpool has entered a trough of the season!"

"In the last 3 rounds of the Premier League, Liverpool has only achieved 1 draw and 2 losses!"

"In the 15th round of the Premier League, Liverpool Liverpool lost 2-0 away to Newcastle United."

"In the 16th round of the Premier League, Liverpool played at home, but was 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 was beaten by this newly promoted team. The score of 3-0 also created the most disparity in the score since Klopp took office. A loss!"

Hearing Zhan Jun's introduction, Zhang Lu said with a smile: "Actually, Liverpool is not winning, and his problem is on the defensive end!"

"Yes, Liverpool is the team that has conceded the third most goals in the top ten of the Premier League this season. They have conceded 17 goals in 23 Premier League games."

"Ah! After Klopp took office, he strengthened the team's pressure in the opponent's half!"

"The advantage of this is that it can kill the opponent's attack in the midfield, but the disadvantage is that once they fail to effectively intercept, their empty defense line will be exposed immediately, 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. A total of six players in the team are on the injury list!"

"In the case that there are not many people available in the back line, the main central defender Skrtel needs to be sidelined for up to six weeks because of a hamstring injury."

"So if Klopp can't restrain the performance of Chu Zheng, Vardy and Mahrez in this game, then with the current strong firepower of Leicester City, they are likely to continue to suffer losses! "

After the words fell, Leicester City's starting lineup appeared.

Leicester City: (442)

Forwards: Vardy, Shinji Okazaki

Midfielders: Albrighton, Kante, Chu Zheng, Mahrez

Defenders: Fox, Huth, Morgan, Simpson
Goalkeeper: Schmeichel

"Before entering the devil's schedule of Christmas, many people are not optimistic that Leicester City will continue to win!"

"However, the fact is that Leicester City have defeated Manchester United and Chelsea successively 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 the last in the Premier League, but now they are 2 points ahead of the No.7 Arsenal and lead the Premier League standings. This may be the most ridiculous team in the history of the Premier League. Already!" Zhang Lu laughed.

"According to statistics, since the Premier League was born 23 years ago, a total of 11 Christmas champions have finally won the league championship!"

"Leicester City definitely hope to continue this pattern!"

"Chinese player Chu Zheng started this game. Chu Zheng is now the Premier League assist leader. Leicester City has assisted 47 of the 19 Premier League goals this season. He is in a hot state."

"If Chu Zheng can get another assist in this game, then he will tie Henry's single-player season assist record set in the 2002-03 season!"

At 23:[-] BJ time, the referee Atkinson blew his whistle, and the game officially started.

On the field, Leicester City, wearing a blue jersey, attacked from right to left.

But after the game started, many people discovered that Leicester City's tactical strategy for this game has changed again.

Compared with the last game against Everton, Leicester City played more proactively today, attacking Liverpool's goal when they got the ball.

But in the initiative of Leicester City, the shadow of defensive counterattack can actually be seen.

On Liverpool's side, although the starting lineup before the game was a 442 formation, judging from the positions of the Liverpool players on the field, Klopp actually played a 4231 formation, with Henderson and Emre Can partnering as midfielders.

However, Liverpool's tactical strategy still focuses on the two keywords of oppression and grabbing.

But on Leicester City's side, the snatching was also very fierce today.

Therefore, after the start of the game, fans all over the world will be presented with a game full of flying, running, pressing, grabbing, high confrontation and fast pace.

And this kind of fast-paced offensive and defensive transition game is often a wonderful battle.

The fans guessed right, and soon there was a wonderful shot with a strong threat!

In the 3rd minute of the game, Leicester City got a throw-in on the left side of their own penalty area.

Fox took three or four steps and threw the ball vigorously to Shinji Okazaki next to the center line in the midfield.

Shinji Okazaki jumped behind the Liverpool right back Klein who came up to interfere with him, and directly headed back.

The ball flew two or three meters behind Shinji Okazaki and jumped to Vardy who was also on the wing.

Vardy resisted the Liverpool right center back Lovren who was coming up behind him, and raised his foot to unload the ball.

But under the interference of Lovren, Vardy stopped the ball to the center line one meter away in front of him, allowing Klein, who retreated along the sideline, to pick it up.

Klein didn't stick to the ball. Facing the ball that bounced in front of him, he kept crossing the ball.

The ball rolled along the center line to the left rib of the center circle, allowing Emrejan to get it.

However, before Emrejan could stop the ball, Chu Zheng rushed up along his ribs and kicked the ball away from Emrejan's feet accurately.

Seeing that the ball was about to fly to Shinji Okazaki in the rib area of ​​​​the front head, Henderson suddenly appeared at this time, raised his left foot and intercepted the ball.

At this moment, Chu Zheng, Shinji Okazaki, Vardy on the wing, and Mahrez next to the center circle arc on Chu Zheng's right moved at the same time, and the four of them surrounded Henderson like a net.

But Henderson was extremely vigilant, and he didn't adjust after blocking the ball. He lifted his foot and crossed the circle.

Mahrez took a step forward and the ball slipped past his toes and came to Moreno's feet on the penalty spot in the center circle.

Seeing that the ball was transferred to the weak side of the defense, Chu Zheng quickly shouted and directed his teammates to retreat to form a defensive front.

On the left side of Liverpool, Moreno quickly advanced along the ribs after starting up.

In front of the upper left corner of the penalty area, Mahrezka, who retreated in time, entangled Moreno in the interior.

Seeing that Simpson, Morgan, and Huth were marking Firmino and Origi to death, and his teammates hadn't outflanked them in place after the point, Moreno immediately chose to split to the left.

After Liverpool midfielder Coutinho took the ball, facing Simpson's defense, this guy relied on his delicate foot skills, first made a false pass, and then quickly dialed the ball out, directly breaking into the left rib area at the top of the arc.

Taking the ball over the upper left corner of the penalty area, seeing that Simpson still didn't grab it, Coutinho directly kicked the cloud arrow.

The ball flew over Firmino's head in the penalty area, and then fell quickly, with a strong side spin and a good arc.

In front of the goal line, Schmeichel judged that the ball was within the goal range, and he quickly threw it to the left.

However, in the next second, Chu Zheng appeared on the end line of the small penalty area, swung his right foot and pulled the ball that was about to bounce off the ground directly to the left sideline.

"fool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Suddenly Anfield exclaimed!

"This ball Chu Zheng appeared too timely!!!" Zhan Jun raised his voice and said.

"Coutinho's shot is very thieves. The ball does not go directly to the goal. Look at the falling trend. The ball will bounce on the end line of the small penalty area. This kind of bouncing shot will increase the goalkeeper. Difficult to save!"

"If there is no Chu Zheng, then Coutinho's foot is full of strength, and Schmeichel may not be able to catch the arc full of long shots!"

"It's okay! Isn't Chu Zheng here? He accurately judged the location!" Zhan Jun said cheerfully.

On the sidelines, Klopp is also full of regret!
He has experienced Chu Zheng's magical sense of crisis and position several times in the Bundesliga!

Soon, Leicester City's first shot also came.

In the 5th minute of the game, Leicester City pressed across the board, and even Morgan and Huth passed the halfway line.

Morgan received a pass back from Chu Zheng in the middle circle on the right.

Seeing Chu Zheng pointing in the direction of Schmeichel, Morgan, who was about to turn around and transfer the ball laterally to the left, immediately did so.

Numerous facts have proved that there is absolutely nothing wrong with listening to your own midfielder brain.

So the ball went straight back to Schmeichel in the penalty area.

After passing the ball, Morgan retreated and looked back, only to find that Firmino was in the middle circle behind him.

Immediately, he was secretly afraid!
If he didn't listen to Chu Zheng just now and turned around to transfer the ball, then with Firmino's position at that time, if you count the time it took him to turn around, he might really be rushed by Firmino. The ball is intercepted.

Or it was directly flanked by Firmino and Origi.

Once the ball is broken, it will be a tragedy for Huth who retreats behind him, and he will directly suffer a two-on-one.

On the sidelines, Klopp slapped the right side of his thigh!
He could see clearly that Morgan was about to turn around just now, but was stopped by Chu Zheng, otherwise, with Firmino's speed, he would definitely be able to quickly stick to Morgan or successfully intercept it.

(End of this chapter)