The highlight of the 27th round of the Premier League was the visit of Arsenal to Anfield to challenge the defending champions, the Red Army, Liverpool.
The day before the game, Wenger made a bold prediction at the pre-match press conference.
"Liverpool is likely to collapse under the pressure of multiple competitions this season! I'm not saying that Arsenal has a chance to compete with Liverpool for the league title. People will definitely say I'm crazy.
But Liverpool has never pulled away from the lead in the table in the past 26 rounds of the league.
Because they are more ambitious this season, they have divided their energy on other battlefields.
They have won the EFL Cup. Congratulations to Liverpool, but the consumption they brought cannot be underestimated.
Also, they lost to AC Milan in the first round of the Champions League. This has never happened in the past two years, which puts Liverpool in a very passive and dangerous situation.
Considering that Liverpool also broke into the top eight of the FA Cup at the same time.
Liverpool is likely to collapse!
Arsenal has been in good form recently. In the last round, we defeated our arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur 5: 2. We also defeated Chelsea 5: 3 at Stamford Bridge in the first half of the season. Now Arsenal can complete their revenge at Anfield! "
There were many grievances between the Premier League powerhouses this season. Liverpool was naturally the first to bear the brunt of the public enemy.
It created indelible pain for Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal.
Arsenal wanted revenge?
Wenger just said what all the Arsenal people were thinking. It was not nonsense.
Comain was careful in the pre-match press conference.
"We can't ignore the second leg of the Champions League 18 final in a few days, so we will restrain ourselves in this game. It's not a bad result if we can get one point. There are more than 10 rounds in the league. We don't need to scare ourselves. Even if we are temporarily behind Manchester City by one or two points, it's not the end of the world. But we still have to try our best to win. It depends on what tactics Arsenal will play."
When the two teams met at Anfield Stadium, Comain's line-up really looked like they were going for 1 point.
"Welcome to Anfield Stadium, where the 27th round of the Premier League will conclude. The defending champions, Liverpool, will take on North London's Arsenal at home.
Now Arsenal needed points to return to the top four, while Liverpool needed points to suppress Manchester City and Manchester United to maintain their lead.
However, Liverpool still had to consider the second leg of the Champions League 18 final three days later. They had to win at least three goals against AC Milan at home to advance to the Champions League quarter-finals. It was a big test.
Let's take a look at the starting lineups for both sides.
Liverpool starting 451.
Goalkeeper: Reina.
Defenders: Johnson, Skrtel, Thiago Silva, Baines.
Midfielders: Kuyt, Mascherano, Alonso, Gerard, Cabaye.
Striker: Qin Xiong.
This was the first time Liverpool had used such a line-up and starting lineup this season. They had accumulated a lot of strength in the midfield.
Let's see how powerful Comain's line-up will be.
Arsenal starting 4231.
Goalkeeper: Szczesny.
Defenders: Sagna, Kos, Chelsea, Vermaelen, Gibbs.
Midfielders: Walcott, Alexander Song, Rosicky, Arteta, Gervinho.
Striker: Robin van Persie.
All right, the game is about to start! "
Comain stood on the sidelines to supervise the game. The noise in the stadium roared in his ears, but Comain had to remind himself to keep his head clear.
Liverpool's difficulties this season were much greater than before. There were not only the difficulties of the middle and lower tier Premier League teams' iron bucket defense, but also unexpected difficulties caused by injuries and suspensions. More importantly, there was the pressure of the intensive multi-competition schedule.
And now Liverpool was at a stage of the season that could be a watershed.
The Premier League, the Champions League, and the FA Cup. Once there was a negative chain reaction, Liverpool could no longer lose all four. With the EFL Cup title as a guarantee, losing the dominant position was a disaster that no one was willing to accept.
Therefore, Comain arranged such a line-up and formation for this game.
In the past, when there was not so much pressure, Arsenal would not be able to find their way to a big battle with Arsenal on their home ground. They would be more aggressive in their stance.
Wenger was also a little nervous on the sidelines.
Chelsea had lost this round. If Arsenal could get points from Liverpool, Arsenal could climb up the rankings.
This was a positive phenomenon.
But the premise was that they could get out of Anfield unscathed.
As he analyzed, Liverpool had scruples. He naturally hoped that the team could complete their revenge!
Arsenal showed the attitude of a challenger at the start of the game. They wanted to stir up trouble at Anfield.
In the sixth minute of the game, after Walcott and Rosicky coordinated on the right side of the front field, Young Tiger powerfully dribbled the ball and cut inside. Although he lost the ball under Baines' interference, Rosicky, who followed up from behind, nimbly controlled the ball and sent the ball to Gervinho's feet with a beautiful pass.
Gervinho bypassed Johnson on the edge of the penalty area with his dexterous footwork skills and went straight into the penalty area. He volleyed the ball diagonally opposite the goal and blasted the ball towards the goal.
The football he shot frightened the Liverpool players. Fortunately, the football slid past the goal!
Arsenal's wild momentum did scare Liverpool, but Liverpool soon gained a foothold at home.
The team slowly attacked, as if they had become conservative.
Qin Xiong only completed Liverpool's first shot in the game in the ninth minute.
It was a somewhat outrageous long shot that blasted the ball into the stands.
If Qin Xiong faced Arsenal's entire defensive line in a positional game, Qin Xiong would be helpless when there was no absolute space.
But Liverpool did not intend to conquer Arsenal's fortress in a positional game today.
When the 16th minute of the game arrived, Liverpool's heavily stocked midfield completed a crucial interception!
Gibbs took a step forward after receiving Arteta's pass. It was this step that allowed Kuyt to quickly steal the ball.
And the steal was very clean. Kuyt immediately passed the ball to Gerard, who plugged forward in the middle.
Liverpool stocked the midfield to catch the opponent's mistakes and immediately launch a quick attack after the successful interception!
Gerard did not stop the ball. He directly passed the ball to Qin Xiong in front of the penalty area.
Although Qin Xiong's back was to Arsenal's penalty area, he directly flicked the ball to the left when he received the ball. At the same time, he completed a turn. He took a step across the ball and made a sudden stop at the moment when Vermaelen rushed up to intercept the ball.
He dodged Vermaelen's interception and Koscielny immediately rushed up to intercept. Qin Xiong then flicked the ball behind Vermaelen and made a series of sudden stops to change directions. It was an extraordinary spectacle!
Koscielny was already in a state of panic after he was bypassed. He looked back in horror.
Qin Xiong went into the game alone!
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