The Premier League's Christmas Express campaign had arrived.
As Qin Xiong had to go to Qatar to participate in the Asian Cup in mid-January, his mission at the club would be heavier before that.
Qin Xiong was prepared to fight continuously.
On December 26, the 19th round of the Premier League and the first half of the season's finale, Liverpool came to Blackburn Rovers' home ground.
Qin Xiong, Torres, and Raúl, the three main attackers, all appeared on the field.
As it was Christmas, Blackburn Rovers did not want to appear too cowardly at home, so Blackburn Rovers were very bold at home.
They contended with Liverpool through tough physical confrontation.
Liverpool played to their speed and technical advantage. The game was not full of twists and turns, but it was not one-sided and dominated by Liverpool.
In the end, with Qin Xiong and Raúl's goals, Liverpool won 2: 1 in the away game.
Manchester United defeated the Black Cats, Sunderland, 2: 0 at home.
The London derby between Arsenal and Chelsea was the focal battle. Chelsea, who had a difficult victory over Manchester United in the last round, suffered another defeat at the Emirates Stadium.
Wenger's team defeated Chelsea, who were in a sluggish and fluctuating form, 3: 1 at home!
After losing 3: 1 to Arsenal in the away game, Chelsea was getting further and further away from the Premier League's leaders, Liverpool.
After the game, manager Ancelotti said that he was not afraid of being fired by the boss, but the team needed to wake up.
After the game, the gap between Chelsea and Liverpool had reached a shocking 13 points. At the same time, the team's ranking fell to fifth place, with Manchester City occupying fourth place.
People also had doubts about Ancelotti's future in the Blues.
When asked if he was worried about his fate, Ancelotti said, "No. You have to ask the boss. You have to ask the boss about this. I'm very confident. "
Ancelotti analyzed the game, "The difference between the two sides is the strength. Compared to us, Arsenal showed a stronger strength on the field. They are able to coordinate with each other, and their performance is stronger than ours. "
Ancelotti thought, "We didn't play well. We didn't pass the ball well many times. We started the second half badly, we were not 100% focused. We lost two goals in three minutes and it was impossible for us to come back after that. Our response was good, but it was not enough. We are at a difficult moment. We need to try and win the game against Bolton. We have to get on with our work.
Ancelotti expressed his dissatisfaction with the team: "In the past two weeks, we have worked hard, but today we did not perform well. I was surprised by the performance of the team because we had a very good training session last week. If you look at the game, what we lack now is confidence. Obviously, I was worried because we only won one out of six or seven matches. I didn't see the team play the game we wanted. That's what worries me, but it's normal. "
Speaking of the standings, Ancelotti said, "The situation is not good, but this is reality. We need to wake up. Now we are still sleeping. "
The Blues' first half of the Premier League season was simply anticlimactic. Looking back now, when the Blues and the Red Army were fighting for the top of the table, the two teams were only one point apart.
The Red Army won that game, and the Blues lost by three points. But the more far-reaching impact was confidence!
It could be said that Liverpool destroyed Chelsea's ambition to win the title!
Halfway through the league, Chelsea had fallen behind, and he was the player who should not have fallen behind.
It was rare for Arsenal to win a tough battle, which allowed Wenger to seize the opportunity to motivate the team.
Wenger claimed after the game that his team had matured. When it came to the Premier League title, the professor believed that the Gunners were not far from the leaders.
Wenger specifically mentioned that Arsenal's defensive ability had greatly improved, and they were no longer afraid of the opponent's fierce playing style.
"Two years ago, the same players might have been overwhelmed by Chelsea's fierceness. Last year, I felt that we were close in this respect. And this year, after losing the away games to Manchester United and Chelsea, there is no difference between us and the opponent in terms of confrontation. It's a slow process of improvement. "
When asked if his team had "become men," Wenger said, "We are no longer intimidated, that's for sure. I feel that we have matured in the past two years. "
Wenger still believed that Chelsea, who were not in good form, was one of the opponents in the title race.
"It's always difficult to concede a goal before half-time, and then we scored two more. The opponent has rarely received the ball recently, and their confidence has decreased. But you can't predict Chelsea. They have a lot of experienced players. I still think Chelsea is one of the teams in the title race. Even after tonight's game, I don't think they are out. "
"I personally admire Ancelotti very much. I don't believe he will be sacked by Chelsea."
"I don't think we are far from the top. It's December now, and we are close behind Liverpool. We have to continue to improve. I hope tonight's victory will convince the team that we are on the right track and direction."
Wenger was right to motivate the players.
But Fleet Street thought that Wenger was too optimistic!
Did he think that Arsenal was not far from Liverpool?
Look at the league table.
Liverpool had 47 points, Manchester United and Arsenal both had 37 points, Manchester City had 36 points, and Chelsea had 34 points.
Putting aside Manchester City and Chelsea.
Liverpool had only lost 10 points in the entire first half of the league tournament in 19 rounds!
And the gap between Liverpool and Manchester United and Arsenal was exactly 10 points.
In other words, the Red Devils and the Gunners had both lost 20 points!
If Liverpool maintained their performance in the second half of the league tournament and lost another 10 points, Manchester United and Arsenal would have to win the second half of the league tournament to catch up with Liverpool!
That was impossible.
They first had to pull up their performance of losing 20 points in 19 rounds of the league tournament, losing more than one point per game, and pray that Liverpool's form declined significantly and their results were bleak to achieve a reversal!
Ten points, to put it more realistically, was a huge advantage for Liverpool, even if Manchester United and Arsenal were to lose three times in a row, and Liverpool would still be riding on top of their heads at the top of the rankings!
Fleet Street was also a little helpless when it came to summarizing the performance of the strong teams in the first half of the Premier League.
Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, and Everton failed to live up to expectations. They could not even play the role of the spoiler in the title race.
Chelsea was the most lamentable team. It seemed that they had lost all hope under Ancelotti and lost the will and determination to forge ahead for the title!
Manchester United and Arsenal had a lot of problems in terms of their lineups. They did not make better additions and improvements in the summer, which made them unable to catch up with Liverpool in terms of competitiveness.
Liverpool, who were more stable than last season, quickly entered the role and state of being the ruler after they restored the throne of England!
They were suppressing the British powerhouses. The Red Army, led by Qin Xiong, was creating a new dynasty of Liverpool!
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