When the players of the two teams stood in the stadium ready to kick off, the faces of the Liverpool players were solemn. Not only were they not afraid of any opponent now, but they also hoped to maintain their condition through a high-level game.
"Welcome to Liverpool's Anfield Stadium, where the highlight of the 32nd round of the English Premier League will be played out.
The defending champions, Liverpool, will be at home to welcome Manchester City, which has risen strongly in the past two seasons.
After seeing today's starting list, can we say that Comain is deliberately targeting Manchester City today? "
After Martin Taylor finished speaking, the Liverpool legend, McManaman, immediately said in the live broadcast room, "Of course! Liverpool won the Premier League title last season and it's only a matter of time before they successfully defend their title this season. However, Manchester City's progress this season has been very obvious. They're starting to compete for a place in the Champions League. What about next season? Is Manchester City going to compete for the title?
Under such circumstances, if Liverpool were under pressure to compete in two competitions, it would be understandable that Comain had reservations about this game. The fans would also understand the team's situation. However, three days ago, when Liverpool massacred Shakhtar Donetsk 6: 1 and were almost certain to break into this season's Champions League semi-finals, Manchester City, sorry, Liverpool, must show the style and attitude of a champion at this time and tell them that they want to compete for the title in the future? Don't think so much. First of all, you have to do more to qualify for the Champions League this season. "
"I agree with McManaman's point of view. Comain is not deliberately targeting Manchester City. If it were any other champion team, they would not take it lightly in the face of a well-known potential competitor. They would go all out to suppress the opponent's momentum and fighting spirit. It's hard to say how big a blow this game will cause to Manchester City, but it may bring about an unexpected effect. Liverpool wants to win and let Manchester City return to Manchester dejectedly. Then, they will continue to struggle to compete for the top four. This is what Comain wants."
"Haha, McManaman and Gray have both analyzed Liverpool's intentions for this game for us. I believe Manchester City also understands their situation. At the end of the season, every game is a key battle. The gap between fourth and fifth place is not as simple as it seems. Without the Champions League, it will be a huge question whether Manchester City can attract high-level players, which is bound to make their summer transfer difficult.
Well, let's look at the starting list for both teams.
Liverpool's starting lineup: 442.
Goalkeeper: Reina.
Defenders: Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Baines.
Midfielders: Gerard, Mascherano, Alonso, Meireles.
Forwards: Suárez, Qin Xiong.
Raúl, who played in the Champions League in midweek, sat on the substitutes' bench. Although Raúl's form was good, it was an indisputable fact that he was older. The physical demands of continuous play were too high, so it was understandable that he was not in the starting lineup.
Manchester City's starting lineup: 4231.
Goalkeeper: Joe Hart.
Defenders: Boyata, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov.
Midfielders: Milner, Gareth Barry, Tevez, Yaya, Toure, Adam Johnson.
Forward: Dzeko.
The starting players of both teams have completed the kick-off ceremony. The game is about to start! "
With the referee's whistle, the game between Liverpool and Manchester City began.
The cheers of the Liverpool fans in the stands were magnificent. Everyone was looking forward to the Red Army beating Manchester City at home.
After the game began, Manchester City put on a clear offensive posture and pulled up the pace of the game faster than Liverpool.
Liverpool appeared to be stable. Their formation shrunk to the back and they put on a tight defensive posture in the middle and backfield.
After seeing Liverpool's formation, Mancini, who was sitting in the technical area, frowned slightly.
Comain stood calmly on the sidelines and was not nervous at all.
Mancini was now a little confused about whether Liverpool, who had sent their strongest lineup, chose to defend and counterattack because they had exhausted their stamina in the Champions League game in midweek, or if there was a bigger conspiracy.
Comain's thoughts were simple: Liverpool had an advantage in the table, so they had to take advantage of it.
Wasn't Manchester City going to fight for the fourth place? Didn't they want points?
Then they would certainly not be too conservative when they came to Anfield.
But to Comain's surprise, Manchester City was not only not conservative, they were even a little radical.
It was exactly what he wanted!
Today, Tevez was playing as a shadow striker. The quality of the offense in the middle had decreased, mainly relying on Milner and the rising star Adam Johnson to push forward on the two flanks.
But Liverpool had both Gerard and Meireles to help defend the flanks. Coupled with the joint defense of the two full backs, they repeatedly stifled Manchester City's offense in a dead end.
Milner and Johnson were not breakthroughs after all. They were not experienced enough to break through Liverpool's defense on their own.
In this way, Yaya Toure would have to follow up and press up in the middle to create the effect of combining the sides and centers. The full-backs would also have to rush up to provide support, allowing Manchester City's attacking points to have more options in the front field.
The first ten minutes of the game were a bit of a stalemate. Both teams were using fouls to curb their opponents. Manchester City knew that Liverpool was better at counterattacking, so they did not dare to let Liverpool play a whirlwind game easily.
In the 12th minute of the game, Liverpool's counterattack blew up when Baines intercepted the ball under Milner's feet in the backfield.
Baines' extremely admirable way of handling the ball was to transfer the ball to the right flank in a wide area.
Johnson followed up and pushed forward to attack, giving Manchester City no time to counterattack or foul on the spot.
In the process of Johnson's forward offensive, he and Gerard had a one-two pass. He broke through the defensive zone of his opponent, Adam Johnson, and then strode into the front field.
Suarez began to run forward in front of the penalty area, ready to be offside at any time.
After pushing the offensive into the dangerous zone, Johnson passed the ball to Gerard, who also ran up.
Yaya Toure followed up to defend, and Barry was also close to Gerard.
At this time, Gerard saw a gap in the middle. Meireles plugged in from behind, and he decisively passed the ball across.
Meireles received the ball and shot a long shot thirty yards away from the goal!
The quality of his shot was not high. A half-high ball was blocked by Kompany's raised foot, and the blocked football flew out diagonally.
It happened to be caught by Qin Xiong, who cut in from the left outside the penalty area.
After Qin Xiong stopped the ball, he charged straight into the penalty area. Lescott had previously gone to mark Suárez, and Kompany had just blocked a shot. He hurriedly rushed over to directly snatch Qin Xiong, but Qin Xiong changed direction and accelerated to break through, shaking off Kompany before cutting into the penalty area!
Facing the goalkeeper, Hart, Qin Xiong shot the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal!
The Manchester City players felt as if they had been struck by lightning!
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