green knight

Chapter 386: Vera with a psychological advantage
Many fans still like the Premier League's first weird boss, because apart from the joy brought by his frequent weird performances, his team does not pose much threat to their own team.

Oh. Only Cardiff City fans probably don't think so.

Say goodbye to the good guy Chen Zhiyuan and his club who bring joy to people. Although the transfer rumors are flying around, the game still has to go on.

The No.20 round of the league has progressed, and the other [-] teams in this round have already finished their games, and Arsenal's is a little later.There is no so-called strong-strong dialogue in this round, and the few powerful teams will encounter weak teams.Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool have successively won their opponents and successfully scored three points.

There is nothing surprising in these nine games. Only Liverpool won Stoke City [-]-[-] in the away game, which is hearty.While the offensive power of the Red Army was affirmed, their defensive shortcomings were also completely exposed.There are no more than three teams in the Premier League that can be scored three goals by today's Sky City, and now the mighty Liverpool has become one of them.

Another good show is that Sunderland is a guest in London to challenge their relegation rival farmer Fulham.With Li Zihan's friend Giacherini scoring twice and passing assists to O'Shea, as well as the icing on the cake of Giacherini's Italian fellow striker Borini.In the end, the Black Cats beat their relegation opponent four to one in the away game, and Giacherini was elected the best player of the game.

In order to congratulate his friend, Li Zihan specially called Giacherini to invite him to have a meal that night.During the dinner, Giacherini jokingly said that it was the first time to eat a meal invited by Li Zihan after knowing Li Zihan for so long, and Li Zihan's face was a little hot.

The two exchanged pleasantries again, and then they said goodbye in an atmosphere of joy between the host and the guest.

At [-]:[-] p.m. local time on January [-]th in England, this league came a bit late for Arsenal.Because they are the last game of this round, the nine games of the other [-] teams have already been played yesterday and the day before yesterday.

This round of opponents is quite special for Arsenal. Arsenal will be a guest at the famous Villa Park Stadium in Birmingham to face Aston Villa, a traditional Premier League team.

Aston Villa's current strength in the Premier League is not considered a strong opponent, it can only be regarded as mid-range.There is no hope for the European war, and there is no worry about relegation. Of course, if there are some accidents, it is still easy to fall into the quagmire of relegation.

For Arsenal, this game is quite important.Because in the first round of this season, Arsenal's first league game of the season.It was against Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium. At that time, it cost 7000 million euros to sign Li Zihan, Ozil and other talented players.Arsenal fans have just seen the dawn, hoping to achieve something in the new season, instead of being a "four madman" or a "No.4 contractor".

And it was under such a home atmosphere that Aston Villa, who was playing away, immediately poured cold water on Arsenal.It was a three-to-one victory over Arsenal.While giving Arsenal a slap in the face, he also won a big victory, scoring the first three points of the new season that they themselves felt "surprised".

And Arsenal kept this account for Aston Villa, and they have been waiting for today.Therefore, all the soldiers in the arsenal are equipped with real guns and nuclear bombs, ready to fight, and there is no need for Wenger to mobilize before the game.

Perhaps it was in consideration of these relationships that the FA put this game at the end of this round and used it as the grand finale.Who knows that the previous Christmas battle was almost arranged for a strong dialogue. There is no strong dialogue in this round, so we have to use this "grievance game" as the finale.

Compared with Arsenal's strict preparations, Aston Villa seemed relatively relaxed.The head coach Paul Lambert, who only took office last season and led the team to play a full season, said at the press conference before the game: "We have a lot of experience playing Arsenal. We beat the Chiefs in the last round. The stadium beat Arsenal [-]-[-], so this time at our Villa Park, we still have the confidence to take all three points."

I don't know where the confidence of the young Scottish coach comes from. Anyway, he has stated that even if he faces a leading team like Arsenal, he will not adopt conservative tactics, but will attack boldly.

Perhaps it was really the victory in the first round that gave him a lot of psychological advantages, but he did have such an advantage.Because after he took office as the head coach of Aston Villa, he scored one win, one draw and one loss in three games against Arsenal.Only conceded three goals in three games, but scored four goals, not at all inferior.
Such a comparison seems to make sense.

Aston Villa played at home in this game with all the main players. Players such as Benteke, Weimann, Delph, Ahmadi, and Ferrer appeared in the starting 11 list one after another. The striker Abanglaho was injured in the last round of a 18-[-] draw with Sunderland, and he did not appear in the [-]-man squad for this game.

The Black Cats, who urgently need points to relegation, have now started the "relegation battle mode", so the fighting action in each game is very big.But they didn't expect that while they were taking all three points, they were also helping other teams to benefit.

Arsenal also wanted to put all their main players in the starting list, but had to face the reality of injuries.Needless to say Walcott, Ozil needs to recuperate for up to a month after being injured in the last round, which is undoubtedly worse for Arsenal.Now Wenger just hopes that Ozil can fully recover and maintain his form before the resumption of the Champions League.Because. Their opponent in the first knockout round is the defending champion, a powerful alien team-Bayern Munich!

Perhaps for the Gunners fans, Wilshere has recovered well and appeared on the bench today, which may bring some comfort to their wounded hearts.

Although Ozil, Walcott and other generals are absent, the starting lineup led by Li Zihan is still not to be underestimated.The cooperation of Li Zihan, Ramsey, Podolski, Rosicky and others is also a giant for a team like Aston Villa.

It is worth mentioning that Wenger did not let all the main players start on the defensive line.The young teenager Gibbs, who has performed well recently and has already sat dead as Arsenal's main left back, was replaced by the experienced Spaniard Monreal, while the black French right back Sagna, who was untouchable on the right, sat on the bench. Some opportunities were given to the young players, and Jenkinson, a teenager from the youth academy, played.As for the central defender, the German Merdesarter got a chance to rest. After all, with such a tight schedule and high-intensity games, it is impossible for ordinary people not to rest. Iron guard does not mean a guard made of steel.Arsenal captain Belgian Vermaelen once again got the starting central defender's position, he will partner with French defender Koscielny.

Everyone is optimistic about Arsenal in this game, except for the disparity in strength between the two sides, and Arsenal want to avenge the revenge at the beginning of the season and the absence of Aston Villa general Abanglaho is also optimistic about Arsenal. s reason.

And the rhythm after the start of the game was just as the fans expected. Aston Villa, who insisted on playing against Arsenal in a high-profile way before the game, probably went on vacation. Only Aston Villa played a standard defensive counterattack.

But this is not surprising, all fools know the end of playing against Arsenal.So when Aston Villa coach Lambert said he was going to attack, everyone knew that this guy was setting off smoke bombs.

Even Manchester City's offensive power of more than [-] million pounds can't be compared with Arsenal's. What kind of onion is your Aston Villa with a combat value of less than five?
So the fans are not surprised at Aston Villa's defensive tactics.Although this is their home field.

The home fans are not too demanding. They didn't get carried away because they killed Arsenal in the first round. On the contrary, they had a good mentality and their positions were well placed.

The home fans didn't boo as the team shrunk to the forty-yard zone.And when the layers of blockade made Arsenal's offense return in vain, the home fans also cheered enthusiastically.Obviously, they are still very satisfied with the attitude of the team.

Under the strict surveillance of Aston Villa, Li Zihan did not get too many opportunities.The opponent is like a group of worker ants, enclosing their queen, the goal, in a circle.

Arsenal, who couldn't open up the situation with passing and cutting, began to slowly try long-range shots, and Ramsey became the player with the most opportunities at present.Even Flamini often shoots long shots. Unfortunately, the vice-captain Arteta got a rest in this game, otherwise his long shots are still good.The French midfielder Flamini is better at rushing into the penalty area, catching a pass from his teammate or a header or using his feet unexpectedly, and scoring a goal.

The game continued until No. 30 minutes into the first half, and the score was still zero to zero.Aston Villa's defense made Arsenal helpless, and the long-range shots failed to open up the situation, because Aston Villa with the double midfielder lineup also defended the opponent's long-range shots very well, and controlled the position in front of the penalty area. The force is no looser than inside the restricted area.

It seems that Paul Lambert did a lot of work on Arsenal before the game. He not only restricted Li Zihan and Cazorla, who were the most threatening in the frontcourt, but also blocked a long-range shot and often for the ball. The team's midfielder Ramsey opened the situation.

And after 8 minutes, that is, the No.308 minute of the game, the scene finally changed.