Reborn Liverpool

Chapter 378 Chelsea
The third round of the Champions League group stage is still underway, and the 10th round of the Premier League is coming soon.

At 10:27 on October 15th, Liverpool faced the Premier League newcomer Cardiff City at Anfield Stadium.

Liverpool has achieved 4 wins and 3 draw in the last 1 encounters between the two sides. The last time Cardiff City won Liverpool was 1959.

The starting lineups for both sides are as follows:
Liverpool (4-2-3-1):

13- Alisson;
66-Arnold, 3-Maguire, 4-Van Dijk, 18-Moreno;
3-Fabinho, 10-Zhang Mai;

11-Salah, 20-Lallana, 10-Mane;

9 - Firmino.

Cardiff City (4-2-3-1):

1 - Etheridge;

5-Manga, 4-Morrison, 22-Bumba, 3-Bennett;
21-Kama LS, 17-Gunnathan;
33-Hoilett, 14-Reed, 11-Murphy;

13 - Patterson.

The Red Army played Zhang Mai, Lallana, Maguire and Moreno in rotation.

Although the visiting team Cardiff City put on the same offensive formation as Liverpool, but their strength is not as good as others, and they fell into a passive situation at the beginning.

Liverpool took the lead in the 10th minute. Mane turned around and shot from 12 yards and was blocked. Lallana shot again in front of the small penalty area and was blocked and deflected. Salah shot into the near corner from the left side of the small penalty area, 1-0!

Three minutes later, Zhang Mai made a diagonal pass in the midfield, and Van Dijk hit the right post with a header from the edge of the small penalty area.

In the 17th minute, Mane made a direct pass to Salah. Etheridge attacked in time and tackled outside the penalty area to clear the siege. Arnold made another pass. Salah fell under the defense of Morrison on the edge of the penalty area, but the referee on duty refused to award a penalty point. ball.

In the 22nd minute, Lallana headed the ball, and Arnold evaded the angle from the edge of the penalty area and then shot wide of the right post.

Shortly afterwards, Arnold took a corner kick, and Van Dijk's previous hook shot went wide again.

Van Dijk stepped forward to assist, and Zhang Mai stayed at the central defender to defend. The meticulous positioning and fierce interception made the scumbags on the sidelines stunned.

In the 37th minute, Van Dijk returned to his position, Zhang Mai organized a counterattack, and made a super long pass in front of the penalty area. Unfortunately, Firmino volleyed higher than the arc outside the penalty area.

Liverpool almost expanded the score in half-time stoppage time. Moreno made a pass from the left side of the penalty area. Lallana headed the goal from 10 yards. Etheridge was powerless, but Morrison made a header on the goal line to make a clearance.

At the end of the first half, Liverpool led Cardiff City 1-0.

Neither side made any adjustments at halftime.The start of the second half was still one-sided for Liverpool.

In the 61st minute, Liverpool began to make personnel adjustments, and Shaqiri replaced Lallana.

In the 66th minute, Liverpool's substitution took effect. Moreno passed the ball. Mane rushed left and right from the edge of the penalty area and shot into the net from 12 yards from the left side of the penalty area, 2-0!

In the 71st minute, Liverpool made another substitution, Milner replaced Firmino, and Zhang Mai was pushed to the forward position.

Taking advantage of the Red Army's adjustment on the field, Cardiff City pulled back a goal in the 77th minute. Hoilett's low pass from the right was slightly deflected, and Patterson shot into the net from close range, 1-2.

Depend on!It was too embarrassing for Zhang Mai, who was in the single forward position, and the Red Army then launched a massive offensive.

In the 82nd minute, Zhang Mai competed for the top with a header in the penalty area, Salah passed the ball from the right, and Shaqiri broke through to 10 yards and shot a low shot into the net from the lower left corner, 3-1!

The Swiss's efforts finally paid off, this is Shaqiri's first goal after joining Liverpool.

In the 85th minute, Salah's direct pass tore through the defense of the three players, and Mane single-handedly shot into the net from 3 yards, 12-4!

In the 89th minute, Arnold made a pass from the right, and Zhang Mai scored a header in front of the goal, 5-1!

Liverpool scored 3 goals in a row to seal the victory, giving the Premier League newcomers a big defeat.

At the end of the game, relying on Salah's pass, Mane scored twice, Shaqiri's first goal and Zhang Mai's final icing on the cake, Liverpool beat the visiting Cardiff City 5-1 and continued to dominate with 10 wins in 10 games top of the list.

The Red Army's big victory came without any surprises, but the most rewarding player in this game was the newly joined Shaqiri who scored the Red Army's first goal.

"Mirror" news, due to the previous Manchester United star Gary Neville criticized Liverpool player Shaqiri, and Shaqiri played well in the Champions League.

Red Army fans used this to mock Neville, and Neville also responded by saying that he would wait until he saw Shaqiri walking on the pitch.

When Shaqiri played for Stoke City last season, Neville often called Shaqiri's behavior "unprofessional", criticized him for being very lazy, and described his performance on the court as like walking and shopping.

However, now that Shaqiri, who joined Liverpool, performed well in the Champions League, the Red Army fans did not forget to make fun of Neville's remarks:
"The best thing Neville did was to criticize Shaqiri for being lazy, and now Shaqiri is showing him to shut him up."

However, Neville did not think that his comments at the time were wrong, he was still stubborn:

"When you see your team being suppressed by the opponent, and he is still walking in the midfield, you can send me a message!"

After Zhang Mai saw this news, he also specifically found Shaqiri Diss Gary Neville:
"Xherdan (Shaqiri's name), Neville has never been nice to the Red Army, next time you repay BB, you can repay him and go to the South American forest to stay!"

Before the Champions League final last season, Gary Neville didn't want to see his rival Red Army win the championship, so he made a vow to go to South America, but it has not been fulfilled yet.

Beckham also wished that Liverpool would defeat Real Madrid at the time, but he didn't make a poisonous oath like Gary Neville.

Shaqiri was quick to hit back at Gary Neville in a media interview:
"Everyone needs to know that our Liverpool training and games are very busy, and we don't have time to pay attention to the sounds in the South American forest!"

……

Liverpool is making great strides, and the rest of the giants are in different states. Among them, Chelsea, which only lost to Liverpool this season, has suddenly emerged.

On October 10th, Chelsea beat Burnley 28-4 away at Turf Moor Stadium. Morata scored a goal, Barkley passed a shot, and William and Cheek expanded the score.

Italian coach Sarri led Chelsea to three consecutive victories in the new season, which once again ignited the passion and enthusiasm of the Blues fans.

Before the game against Burnley, Chelsea had 6 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss in the Premier League. For the Blues who fell out of the Champions League last season, these are undoubtedly exciting statistics.

And after the bloodless victory over Burnley in this round of away games, this now invincible blue team also gave fans more hope of challenging Liverpool's kingship.

Chelsea has always been known for its iron and blood. Whether it was Mourinho or Conte coaching the Blues, the team's tactical main body was to stabilize their own fences and establish a solid steel defense line. The style of play was mostly defensive counterattacks. .

After Sarri came to the team, Chelsea has undergone earth-shaking changes in less than a month.

The Blues have successfully transformed into a team that advocates beautiful football and offensive football. The pleasing style of play has feasted the eyes of fans and the media, and Chelsea and coach Sarri have been surrounded by praise from the outside world.

Take this away game against Burnley as an example. In addition to the "three tricks" in the opening 5 minutes, the home team started a battle of beasts under the control of the Blues.

Chelsea played with ease, and the control of the rhythm in the game was also very appropriate. After leading, they gave up the ball in time to seek more attacking space.

Barkley, Kanter and Jorginho have a firm advantage in the midfield battle, and William, Zeke and Morata have kept Burnley's gate in a state of uncertainty.

In the whole game, Chelsea's ball possession rate was as high as 64%, and the shooting ratio with Burnley was 23-7, and the shooting ratio was 7-1. Chelsea built the most reliable defense line with sharp offense.

The game against Burnley was just the epitome of Chelsea's explosive state. The Blues had a sudden change in style and a successful transformation. The helmsman Sarri contributed a lot. His offensive football conquered players, the media and the entire football world.

William said bluntly in an interview before that the team is currently playing real football:

"Sarri is very important to the team, not only for me, but for the whole team. Now we are playing real football. Sarri wants us to find happiness on the pitch. We are finally playing real football. , all the players are happy playing under him."

In addition to the successful tactical transformation, Sarri also used a lot of old "wastewood":
David Luiz completely fell out of favor under Conte, but the Brazilian was reused by Sarri and became the best choice for the main central defender;
Barkley has almost been forgotten by people, but now, he is in the second spring of his career in the Blues. He assisted 2 times and scored 1 goal in this game. In the last 3 league games, he scored successively. The first Englishman to achieve this feat since Germany...

In addition, William and Pedro, two rotation players, can also play an important role in Sarri's tactical system. Morata and Giroud on the front line have formed a healthy competition. Hazard's performance is also in line with Sarri's. Attacking football has a huge relationship.

Zeke, a former member of the rented bus, scored 4 goals in two games, and the two new aids of Kovacic and Jorginho are even more comfortable in Sarri's tactical system.Most of Chelsea's players are able to show their talents, and Sarri is naturally indispensible for all of this.

After the previous Naples chairman De Laurentiis bombarded Sarri with a rigid tactical style and only used 11-13 players, Sarri has now given the best counterattack with results.

In terms of training players and transforming the team, Sarri has his own magic power. The main players can show their ambitions, and the rotation players can also express themselves in a timely manner. The offense is even more blooming, which can even make up for the persistent weakness of the front.

In addition, compared to Mourinho's crazy words and Conte's fiery straightforwardness, Sarri is very rounded in his dealings with others, and this can help him handle the relationship with players, the media and high-level officials well.

Sarri can use Italian humor to mingle with media reporters, the players are also convinced by him, and his seemingly indifferent attitude towards the transfer market also allows him to get along with the top management.

At the beginning of the season, many people thought that Liverpool and Manchester City would be the two giants competing for supremacy, but Chelsea led by Sarri has now made the Premier League teams look different. They have become one of the teams that put the most pressure on Liverpool and Manchester City. The standings are closely following the two.

If Chelsea can maintain stability under the leadership of Sarri, then the end of the season, the Blues are likely to provide fans with an even bigger surprise.

(End of this chapter)