Football’s First Defender

Liverpool head to Stamford Bridge for the second leg of the League Cup.

In the recent confrontation record between the two sides, Liverpool has a considerable psychological advantage.

Since Yang Feng's transfer, Liverpool have rarely lost against Chelsea.

Last season, at Stamford Bridge, Yang Feng finally drew with his old club and led Liverpool to retreat with Chelsea leading the game.

For the Blues fans, Yang Feng is the eternal pain in their hearts.

When Yang Feng joined Chelsea, he led Chelsea to glory for a period of time. The league championship and the first Champions League trophy in the club's history were all won by Yang Feng when he was the main central defender.

However, Yang Feng's insistence on leaving has also made Liverpool a powerhouse in the Premier League again, making Chelsea fans feel unreconciled. If Yang Feng stays at Chelsea, will Chelsea be able to achieve better results than they are now?

Now, Yang Feng "goes home" again. For many Chelsea fans, they don't know how to welcome Yang Feng.

With cheers and applause to welcome Yang Feng, who has played for a short time but will definitely be a star in the future, or with boos to welcome the core opponents who will compete with Chelsea for the league championship this season and the right to advance to the finals in this game central defender.

When the live DJ played Yang Feng's name, there were applause, boos, and mixed voices. Compared with the "treatment" received by other Liverpool signature players before, it was a little different.

In the past few years, Chelsea has provided Liverpool with "talents". First Yang Feng and then Sturridge have successfully become Liverpool's absolute "thigh" level figures.

It's just that Chelsea lost money with the players they got from Liverpool.

Torres went directly from the Premier League Golden Boot to parallel imports. Moses, who had a good leveling effect in Liverpool, returned to Stamford Bridge and immediately disappeared...

The two teams have too many intersections and too many stories, but in this game, the most realistic goal of the two teams is to defeat their opponents and advance to the finals, and strive to ensure that the players' previous physical fitness is not in vain, and they can take home a championship trophy.

In this game, for Chelsea, the biggest good news is Hazard's return from injury, which can provide the biggest variable for Mourinho's offensive tactics.

As for Liverpool, Flanagan's comeback also gave Rodgers the capital to change back to a more secure four-back, instead of continuing to use the three-back tactic that was not easy to use in front of the media.

Compared with the first round a week ago, since both teams have players returning from the line of fire, for the coaches of both sides, the tactical arrangement can be maximized.

However, when the starting list came out, everyone was surprised by Rogers' starting arrangement.

It has always been said that the three central defenders are not used to it, but when there is a lack of full-backs, Rogers, who used it to make up, actually performed "really fragrant".

The system of three central defenders remains unchanged, but Rogers has made drastic reforms to the midfield.

Sturridge has some minor injuries and sits on the bench for this game.

And Rogers did not use Balotelli or Lambert to start, but directly pushed Sterling to the top forward position.

Behind Sterling, Coutinho and Lallana are two passers to deliver ammunition to him.

In the configuration of the four midfielders, Moreno and Markovic are separated on the left and right, and Henderson and Lucas are in the middle.

It is still a 343 lineup. Even if some players return from injury, Rogers chose to use another unexpected starting lineup, preparing to catch Chelsea by surprise.

As for Chelsea, Mourinho's first thing to do in this kind of competition is to seek stability.

Although the League Cup does not count the advantage of away goals, Mourinho still wants to do a good job in the team's defense first, and then seeks to find opportunities to attack opponents in the case of Liverpool with zero seals.

The advantage of the home court is that as the game progresses, the physical energy of the players will be consumed, and the home team with fans cheering may have a greater psychological advantage and ensure better performance.

The double defensive midfielder combination of Mikel and Matic can achieve the ultimate sweep of the midfield.

In the midfield, Chelsea is "Fake Connection", coupled with the impactful Hazard and William.

Even if the "Faco Connection" continues to be targeted by Liverpool in this game, Mourinho can still guarantee two top breakthrough players who can create a considerable threat to Liverpool's defense.

Seeking stability and believing in the team's defense will always be the core of Mourinho's tactics.

At the beginning of the game, both sides played a little cautiously.

After all, after the first round of the draw, it has become a game to determine the outcome, and both sides are stable.

Liverpool's first offensive opportunity came from Yang Feng's pass.

It is no longer the long pass of the past.

In the positional battle, with Liverpool's tactically oppressive requirements, in order to provide the pass support needed in the frontcourt, Yang Feng now also needs to mention the opponent's half, and in addition to receiving the return pass from his teammates, he also bears a part of it. The task of sending the ball forward.

This time, after Yang Feng received Moreno's return pass, he suddenly moved sideways to avoid William's pressing, and then sent a straight pass forward.

After Coutinho received the ball in front of the penalty area, he took advantage of the opportunity to lead forward.

Against Cahill's defense, he shot a low shot from a small angle with his left foot, but Cahill did not lose his defensive position. When Coutinho hit the goal, he successfully stretched his legs to block the ball and blocked the ball from the bottom line. A corner for Liverpool.

Like the previous game, Yang Feng continued to receive key defenses from Chelsea in set kicks.

Cahill's top defense, coupled with the assistance of other Chelsea players, under the key defense, even if Yang Feng ran to the landing point first, but under the impact from different directions, he couldn't get a full jumping opportunity at all. Unable to form a goal...

However, Liverpool's frontcourt pressing is still full of effect.

Although Chelsea, William and Hazard all have a strong ability to dribble and break through, it is also the end of the battle for offensive players to dribble the ball from their own backcourt and are destined to reach the opponent's core area.

Therefore, Chelsea's transfer of the ball in the backcourt is of course mainly passed, which also gives Liverpool the opportunity to press in the frontcourt, steal the ball, and then directly counterattack.

Ivanovic's pass to Fabregas from the wing was successfully intercepted by Coutinho under the joint efforts of several Liverpool midfielders.

After the ball was intercepted, although Xiaofa directly shoveled on the ground and wanted to stop Coutinho with a foul, Coutinho tactfully dialed the ball and jumped up, although he was still caught by Xiaofa's feet, a little staggering , but did not lose balance and fell to the ground.

The referee stretched his hand forward, signaling a favorable attack.

In the case of Mikel's fast forward interception, after Coutinho landed, he did not make a strong attack, but chose to transfer the ball laterally.

Henderson, who followed up on the right, volleyed and hit the goal from 25 meters away.

The ball is powerful and heavy, and the angle is still tricky.

It's just that Courtois leaped and hit the ball with both fists. It was too difficult to break Courtois' gate with a long shot...

However, Liverpool's advantage on the field is still obvious. Even in the away game, Liverpool still occupies the offensive initiative and has some advantages...