Football’s First Defender

For Liverpool, the celebration of winning the Carabao Cup only exists on the day of victory against Tottenham.

On the night of winning the championship, everyone celebrated in London for a whole night, and then after the team had a day off the next day, all Liverpool players had to quickly withdraw their minds and face the next tough test for the team.

Liverpool also defend the league title, and the Champions League, two bigger goals to compete for.

The stumbling block in front of them is Liverpool's absolute nightmare this season, Manchester City.

Manchester City's performance this season has been a bit of a struggle. When facing some mid-lower teams, Manchester City will always have various problems, resulting in the inability to score three points.

But the team's performance in the strong dialogue is quite good, especially against Liverpool this season, with two consecutive victories, it can be called Liverpool's absolute sufferer.

Not only against Liverpool, Manchester City also performed quite well in the face of Chelsea and Manchester United. Among the points of the six giants, Manchester City also ranked first.

However, what the league pursues is stability, and what it pursues is scoring efficiency throughout the season. Manchester City lacks stable scoring efficiency. Only recently, Chelsea and Liverpool have continuously widened the point difference, almost losing the championship. competency.

Of course, even though Manchester City has fallen out of the championship group, the strength of the team and its explosive power in the face of traditional giants are a strong opponent for Liverpool.

After a 120-minute fierce battle with Tottenham and a night of celebration after the game, even though nearly a week has passed, everyone is still full of concerns about Liverpool's "indulgence".

Can Liverpool, who has just won the championship honor, show its recent excellent competitive state when facing Manchester City?

For Liverpool, the competition for the league championship has entered a fierce stage. When facing a strong blocking opponent like Manchester City, it is really a big advantage to occupy the advantage of Anfield's home court.

The previous Community Shield in a neutral venue and the first league match at the Etihad. Liverpool, who did not show their overall strength at the beginning of the season, lost miserably. This game is also a testament to the Liverpool players. own battle.

In this game, we must strive to win with all our strength, and we cannot let Manchester City become Liverpool's "nemesis".

Liverpool's rotation has done quite well recently. Except for the back line, the entire midfield has maintained a fairly low rotation efficiency. All players can also show their strength and contribute to the team.

In this game, Rodgers sent a striker combination composed of Sturridge, Sterling and Coutinho.

In the midfield, a defensive collocation that can change freely is arranged.

The official formation report is 343. Rodgers has Yang Feng, Skrtel and Emre Can play 3 central defenders, while the four midfielders are Flanagan, Moreno on both sides, and Henderson in the middle. Lallana is responsible for the offense in the middle.

Of course, whether this 343 formation will be maintained all the time, or in the game, the two wing backs retreated, and Emre Can moved forward to rebuild the 433 formation, it depends on the performance of the Liverpool players on the spot.

Compared with the lineup that can be changed to a certain extent on Liverpool's side, Manchester City's side is still playing with a regular 442 lineup.

Dzeko and Aguero's double forward line has become Manchester City's offensive weapon.

And behind this tall and fast striker is an excellent midfield combination that can occupy a place in the entire European football world.

Nasri and Silva are separated on the wing, similar to the combination of Coutinho and Sterling on Liverpool's side. Manchester City is also a speed player Nasri, paired with a David with excellent technical ability. Silva.

It's just that, compared to the young Coutinho, Silva is better than Coutinho in terms of experience and ability to handle the ball.

The away game at Anfield also made Manchester City's midfield configuration slightly conservative. Yaya Toure paired with Fernandinho's double midfielder combination will give priority to ensuring Manchester City's defense.

The combination of two world-class midfielders will try their best to limit Liverpool's central attack.

The return of Manchester City's old wounded Kompany made Manchester City's defense a huge reinforcement before the game, which can be better coordinated to face the impact of Liverpool.

Even this season, Liverpool is at an absolute disadvantage in the direct dialogue with Manchester City.

However, that was all at the beginning of the season, when Liverpool was in the period of tactical exploration and the team's running-in period.

Not to mention facing Manchester City, facing some underdogs, Liverpool's offense has formed a huge drag, and at certain times, for a certain offensive threat, it will put huge pressure on the team's backcourt defense.

But now, after the two-month downturn at the beginning of the season, Liverpool has quickly found the most suitable tactics for the team, and the tacit understanding among the players has also begun to increase. He was able to catch up despite the extremely unfavorable situation at the beginning of the season. So far, he is on par with Chelsea in the standings.

In the previous few consecutive games against the giants, Liverpool has shown a very strong combat effectiveness, especially in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, two games against Chelsea, Liverpool's unbeaten promotion, and occupying an absolute advantage on the field, let Everyone saw the invincible and powerful Liverpool team last season except for injuries.

And this time the direct dialogue between Liverpool and Manchester City is not only to verify whether the title of "Liverpool Nemesis" of Manchester City can be confirmed, but also to see whether the grievances and hatred between the two teams that fought hard to the end last season can be verified. Add one more.

You know, in the first game, Chelsea has already won. If Liverpool can't get all three points, then Chelsea will further widen the points gap with Liverpool.

While there are still more than 10 rounds in the league, although Manchester City is behind by more than two wins, it is not hopeless.

Being able to step on Liverpool's "corpse" to keep catching up with the leaders is also what Manchester City wants to do.

But at the beginning of the game, the first to take the initiative was of course Liverpool at home.

Liverpool used sharp passes and cuts to cooperate, staring at the biggest weakness of Manchester City's defense, and the side of central defender Mangala launched a fierce attack.

Mangala, as the key signing of Manchester City in the summer, did not show his defensive strength in the Portuguese Super League in Manchester City.

On the contrary, in the fast-paced offense and defense of the Premier League, Mangala's many weaknesses on the defensive end are constantly exposed.

It can be said that in terms of player strength alone, Mangala does have strength above the average level of the five major leagues.

It's just that compared to his high net worth, there is still a certain gap between Manchester City's expectations for him.

Especially when facing the impact of top offensive players, Mangala will always have various problems.

Liverpool's offense today was quite targeted, and in the end, it succeeded in producing results.

Just in the 21st minute of the first half, it was from Mangala's defensive side that Liverpool's offense opened the gap.

A volley from Coutinho's penalty area gave Liverpool the lead.