Liverpool versus Chelsea.
The Red vs. Blue battle, one of the major highlights of the Premier League.
During this period, many conflicts had erupted between the fans of the two sides.
Speaking of these two teams, they had a classic five-year Champions League rivalry in the early 2010s.
Because the Liverpool fans represented the working class, while Chelsea represented the rich.
This class difference was destined to make it impossible for the two teams to sit down and talk peacefully.
Between 2004 and 2009, Chelsea and Liverpool met continuously. The rivalry between the two teams was white-hot.
During this period, the two teams had 24 fierce encounters in the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, and Community Shield.
Although the enmity was not as deep as with their mortal enemy, Manchester United, the fans at Anfield would absolutely not welcome these Londoners.
"Get out of Anfield!"
"Fuck off! You're not welcome here, you London mongrels!"
"We play in the Champions League, you play in the Europa League! We play Bayern, you can only play Red Star!"
"..."
The Chelsea players, as soon as they came out, were met with frantic curses and taunts from the Liverpool fans.
This is the importance of the home ground.
It is also why the fans are the "12th man."
When playing away, if you're not playing well, the situation is against you, and the match is also particularly important, at a time like this, to suddenly have tens of thousands of fans frantically "greeting" you and your family...
Under such anxiety, players with a weaker mentality would explode on the spot.
Tendou had once cursed the away fans for being ungrateful, for not even knowing how to boo him.
In fact, it was also to prevent his own mentality from being affected.
To set a goal for himself in advance: to play until the home fans booed him!
This kind of psychological suggestion could make him more focused on the match, rather than the things off the field.
Feeling the demonic atmosphere of the Anfield home ground, the Chelsea head coach, Sarri's, expression was very solemn.
Several days ago, he had publicly criticized the unreasonable scheduling of the Premier League.
One must know, two days ago, they had just flown to the Czech Republic to play an away match against Red Star in the Europa League.
And before they could even catch their breath, they had rushed to Anfield to challenge Liverpool.
Many coaches have complained about similar things.
Mourinho, Ferguson, Wenger, and so on.
They have all publicly complained that the Premier League's schedule is too unreasonable.
But to no avail.
The FA: I know it's unreasonable, but I'm not changing it!
"Hello, friends and viewers, and welcome to the 34th round of the Premier League!"
"Liverpool at home against the Blues, Chelsea!"
"The players from both teams are already in their respective halves, ready!"
"The referee looks at his watch!"
TWEEET!!!
"The match has officially begun! A clash of titans!"
"In their traditional red jerseys are the home team, Liverpool!"
"Goalkeeper: Alisson!"
"The back four: Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson."
"Midfield: Captain Henderson, the super rookie TJ, Keïta."
"Forwards: Salah, Firmino, Mané!"
"It's clear that Klopp is very satisfied with this lineup. Most of Liverpool's matches have been with this 4-3-3 formation."
"The trident in the front, Van Dijk commanding the defense, and the free man TJ as the team's hub, integrating the team's offense and defense."
"That's right. And it's different from when TJ first joined. The Liverpool players have adapted to the fact that TJ can appear in any position on the field at any time. They now have a great understanding."
"It should be said that TJ has adapted to Liverpool. If you often watch Liverpool's matches, you will find that in many cases, he will actively coordinate with his teammates."
"This is also why Liverpool unhesitatingly rejected Real Madrid's inquiry. TJ is seen by Liverpool as the future of the team, the next Steven Gerrard!"
"Let's look at the Chelsea side. Sarri has also sent out a 4-3-3 formation."
"Goalkeeper: Kepa."
"The back four: Emerson, Luiz, Rüdiger, Azpilicueta."
"Midfield: Loftus-Cheek, Jorginho, Kanté."
"Forwards: Willian, Hazard, Hudson-Odoi."
"Sarri has not made any adjustments to his midfield and defense for this match, but he has replaced Morata and Pedro in the attack with Willian and Hudson-Odoi. Let's see if they will be their secret weapon."
"Chelsea's kickoff!"
The match began amidst the cheers of the Liverpool fans.
Hazard passed the ball back to the midfield organizer, Jorginho, but was immediately met with Liverpool's high press.
If it were the old Chelsea, they would have been retreating at this point and looking for counter-attacking opportunities.
But the arrival of the head coach, Sarri, had brought changes to Chelsea.
In recent years, Chelsea had always given a rigid impression.
Their style of play was the most conservative in the entire Premier League, even after Mourinho left.
Their football had always been at odds with the word "beautiful."
Although they had won the Premier League and the Champions League with this pragmatic style, the fact that Chelsea's football was ugly was deeply ingrained in the fans' hearts.
Sarri's arrival brought some changes to Chelsea.
This Italian was not as stubborn as his predecessor, Conte.
He activated the Blues' attacking DNA.
This smoking, unknown Italian had made Chelsea's football no longer ugly.
Of course, this was only relative. Chelsea still played a defensive counter-attacking style.
It's just that Sarri had made their counter-attacks faster, and the team had become more proactive.
Under Liverpool's press, Jorginho sent a through pass to Hazard ahead of time.
The current Hazard was not the future "Burger King." He was now the "Ball King," Hazard, the third best in the world, the number one under Messi and Ronaldo.
Just a drop of the shoulder and a change of direction, and he had easily gotten past the Liverpool captain, Henderson.
Keïta immediately moved to cover, but Hazard, as if he hadn't seen him, proactively dribbled the ball towards Keïta.
The moment the two made contact, he displayed an astonishing step frequency.
Keïta was faked from side to side, and then somehow, he was past him.
Amidst the excited cheers of the several thousand Chelsea fans, Hazard had brought the ball into the heart of Liverpool's territory.
No combination play, just pure individual ability.
He alone had blown past Liverpool's midfield defensive line.
...
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