Green Journey

Chapter 446 A Vital Battle!
At noon the next day, the 22nd round of the Premier League kicked off and a new round of competition began.

The opening match of this round of the Premier League is the Red Army Liverpool against the Swans Swansea.

After 21 rounds of the Premier League, Swansea had 4 wins, 3 draws and 14 losses. They scored 23 goals but conceded 49 goals. They only accumulated 15 points, ranking second to last in the standings and becoming one of the favorites for relegation this season.

As Liverpool were tied 21-1 by the Red Devils Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 1st round, their ranking also dropped to fourth.

But at present, they and the fifth place Arsenal still have 44 points.

Third-ranked Tottenham above Liverpool are only one point ahead of them.

I thought it would be easy for Liverpool to return to the Premier League to play against teams like Swansea, but I never thought that Liverpool seemed to be addicted to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. The black swan in the mud pulled up.

As a result, Liverpool lost 2-3 at home to Swansea, and another shocking upset broke out.

The Red Army fans were so angry that they couldn't figure out why Liverpool, who was so strong that it was almost incomprehensible in the dialogue between the strong and the strong, would repeatedly stumble against the mid-lower teams, always losing points where they shouldn't be, which made people shut themselves up.

In fact, after thinking about it after the game, Liverpool's loss is also traceable.

首先就是因为两天前的1月18日，利物浦因为足总杯第三轮和对手0-0不分胜负，所以他们周中又和普利茅斯踢了一场比赛，最终1-0艰难取胜。

The second is because of the fact that Liverpool's tofu defense lacked Matip in this game.

This guy was not suspended by a red card, nor was he injured, but because he refused the call of the Cameroon national team for the Africa Cup of Nations, he was sued by the chaotic Cameroon Football Association, and was temporarily banned from joining the club by FIFA on the grounds of investigation Contest.

This made Liverpool's already unstable defense worse.

Coupled with Mane's return to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations, Liverpool's front line lacked a strong explosive point, so Liverpool's loss is actually traceable.

At 15 o'clock in the afternoon, another group of fans were so angry that they jumped and went crazy.

The Red Devils Manchester United led by Mourinho were beaten 1-1 by Stoke City in the away game, and it was another small cold.

In fact, as long as Manchester United wins this game, they will be able to close the difference with Liverpool to 40 point with 1 points.

At that time, let alone Liverpool dare to rob the rich and give to the poor, as long as there is a slight mistake, they can immediately pull Liverpool down and enter the European theater.

But now it's good, Liverpool just lost at noon, they were tied in the afternoon, and the 3 points they got became 1 point.

At 17 o'clock, the game time is approaching, and the Etihad Stadium is crowded with people, and there are no empty seats.

Manchester City's opponent in this round is Tottenham, who is third in the Premier League standings.

Since the start of the season, even some Tottenham fans are not optimistic about Tottenham's ability to enter the championship just like the outside world.

Because this Tottenham team is too young, and the established practice on the football field is to distrust young people.

But it is a traditional drama that people love to see by young players showing a strong response to these prejudices and doubts.

The same is true of the recent Tottenham.

Although Tottenham's state has been unstable since the start of the season, their recent upward momentum has been strong.

Tottenham sniped Chelsea 20-2 in the closing match of the 0th round of the Premier League, ending Conte's 12-game winning streak for the Blues.

Tottenham are also the first team to beat Chelsea this season after changing to 3-4-3.

Interestingly, in the defeat of Chelsea, Pochettino also used a 3-back lineup.

At 17:55, as soon as the live broadcast signal was connected, the starting lineups of Manchester City and Tottenham immediately appeared in the camera.

Manchester City: (4141)

Goalkeeper: Bravo
Defenders: Zabaleta, Otamendi, Kolarov, Clichy

Back midfielder: Yaya Toure

Midfielders: Sterling, De Bruyne, Chu Zheng, Sane

Forward: Aguero
In the live broadcast room, Zhan Jun and Zhang Lu were stunned when they saw Manchester City's starting lineup. They seemed to be extremely surprised by Guardiola's change of lineup.

"After the 21-4 bloodbath of Everton in the 0st round of the Premier League, Manchester City dropped to second place in the standings, losing the top spot in the Premier League that has not yet been warmed up."

"This game is crucial to both Manchester City and Tottenham, because once they lose, Chelsea may take the opportunity to expand the score and increase the disadvantage of the championship."

"As for the goalkeeper, Guashuai did what he said in this game. He still trusts Bravo, but everyone just listens. Ederson has joined the team and started training."

"Haha!" Hearing Zhan Jun's witty words, Zhang Lu burst out laughing.

He wanted to defend Bravo a few words, but he didn't know how to say it. The stats of 22 shots on target and 16 goals were so invincible that any justification seemed extremely pale.

"Bravo didn't take it down, but took Stones down!" Zhan Jun shook his head and laughed.

Zhang Lu answered immediately: "Actually, apart from the two own assists in the last round, Stones' performance was still very good."

Tottenham: (343)

Forwards: Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Eriksen

Midfielders: Danny Rose, Dembele, Wanyama, Ben Davies
Defenders: Wimmer, Alderweireld, Dier

Goalkeeper: Hugo Lloris
"Tottenham may have tasted the sweetness of the 3 central defender system from Conte, and Pochettino continued to discharge the 3 central defender system."

"In the first leg of the contest between the two sides, Pochettino was superior, and Tottenham defeated Manchester City 3-2."

"But today is different from the past. As the season progresses, the integration of Manchester City players and Guardiola's tactical system is getting higher and higher."

"Due to Vertonghen's injury in this game, Pochettino sent Wimmer and captain Dell also came to the position of central defender."

"This season Tottenham's defense is the most stable of any team in the Premier League, which is impressive."

"Currently, Tottenham have only conceded 16 goals, which is the team with the fewest conceded goals in the Premier League."

"But Vertonghen's absence may have a considerable impact on Pochettino's defensive system."

"There must be an impact, it depends on whether it is big or small!" Zhang Lu looked down at the notepad, "What the defense pursues is stability, and defense often relies on the tacit understanding and trust between players. This sudden change People, it will take a certain amount of time to re-cultivate this kind of tacit understanding and trust."

"Yes!"

"According to the news from the Guardian before the game, Kyle Walker seems to be hesitant about whether to leave the team. There is no obstacle at the club level, but he seems to have other concerns, and he has been unable to reach a personal agreement with Manchester City."

"So Kyle Walker didn't start today, and he didn't even get on the bench."

As soon as Zhan Jun finished speaking, the camera suddenly found Kyle Walker in the stands wearing a peaked cap and sunglasses.

At 17:30 London time, the referee Marina blew his whistle, and this strong dialogue officially started.

On the field, after the game started, looking at the positions of the Tottenham players, they played in a 3421 formation. Ali and Eriksson did not appear on the wing, but moved around behind Harry Kane.

As for Manchester City, which attacked from left to right, there were also changes.

After the game started, it was not Yaya Toure but Chu Zheng who appeared in the defensive midfielder to plan strategies.

But sometimes Chu Zheng would go up, and Yaya Toure would retreat back, and the two quickly completed the handover of duties.

No one knows what idea Guardiola is playing again.

But in a blink of an eye the crisis came.

In the 3rd minute of the game, Tottenham halftime, on the right side of the center circle, Alderweireld took the ball and adjusted it on the spot, and suddenly made a long diagonal pass.

It landed on the ribs in the 30-meter area on the right side of Manchester City's half.

Danny Rose started early along the wing, but Zabaleta was not slow, leaning in just in time.

It turned out that after he ran out, he realized that he had made a mistake in his judgment.

Finding that the ball was behind him, he quickly turned around, but he slipped and fell because he turned too fast halfway, and watched the ball bounce to the side of the penalty area.

Danny Rose was extremely fast, got the ball down the bottom in a blink of an eye, and then pushed it laterally along the baseline.

In front of the goal post, Ali stepped forward and got in place.

Danny Rose quickly made an inverted triangle pass back to the previous point.

In the next second, Otamendi arrived, stretched out his left foot and rubbed it in time, the ball climbed upwards at a high speed, and flew out of the sideline along the baseline to the right.

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

Suddenly everyone at the Etihad Stadium was terrified, because they were really afraid of conceding the ball at the beginning.

With Manchester City's current virtues, it's not impossible to do this kind of thing.

(End of this chapter)