Football: A late bloomer, starting with Leicester City

Chapter 262 Anfield challenges Liverpool, let’s see how this road goes at the end of the season (please vote for me)

On September 9, the fourth round of the Premier League finally came.

In this game, Leicester City visited Anfield Stadium to face their old acquaintance Liverpool from last season.

This is also the last game before the team's Champions League debut. Four days later, they will travel to Belgium to face the Belgian giants Club Brugge.

On the sidelines of the court, before the game started, Klopp stopped Chen Yufeng and put his right hand on Chen Yufeng's shoulder.

"You're back in the Premier League, boy. I thought you were going to take a few days off to celebrate winning the award."

Klopp squeezed Chen Yufeng's arm, then set his sights on Chen Yufeng's captain's armband, and joked: "Are you still provoking me?"

"How about we sprinkle some more pepper on this hot game and create some conflicts, just like before."

"Hahaha..." Chen Yufeng heard the meaning of the words, laughed a few times, turned around and ran towards the court, making final preparations for the game.

"That's great, this player."

Behind him, Klopp was still staring at the back of his No. 66, shaking his head and sighing: "If I were five years younger, I could definitely become the core of the right wing of the Red Army in the future and create a red dynasty with us."

"Oh, age, age..."

"Beep!" Not long after, the referee blew the whistle for the opening of the game, and the players from both sides quickly entered the fight.

It can be seen that Liverpool's players obviously came to the field with revenge.

They hope to get all three points from Leicester City in this game of the new season and take revenge!

Even Belgium national goalkeeper Mignolet laughed out loud after Chen Yufeng completed a shot: "A few more high-quality shots! This kind of ball can't get past me!"

"You know we're going to win today!"

Chen Yufeng didn't say anything. He smiled and walked towards his seat without wasting any more time.

Ranieri said before the game that he would only play for 45 minutes in this game and Albrighton would replace him at halftime.

This is to save for the game against Club Brugge four days later.

In the commentary seats next to the stadium, Zhan Jun and Zhang Lu were sitting here, enthusiastically explaining to the audience in front of the TV.

"The match between the two sides has been going on for a while, and there have been three shots, but none of them pose much of a threat."

Zhan Jun turned his head to Zhang Lu and asked with a smile: "Which team does Teacher Zhang Lu think has a higher probability of winning today?"

"I think it's Liverpool. Liverpool's best condition is obviously better, and the lineup has become more complete after reinforcements in the new season." Zhang Lu gave his own evaluation.

Zhan Jun still agreed with this evaluation. After nodding, he added: "Yes, Klopp can already play some of the things he wants. In the first three games, Liverpool's performance is getting better and better."

"If we continue to develop at this pace, the goal of winning championships in the league and cup may not be out of reach."

"Reds fans can see the hope of revival and they will love their manager deeply."

"Let's look at this Liverpool attack."

"..."

The two of them just chatted and explained for the fans.

With their style, fans who are invested in watching the game still feel that time passes quickly.

"Liverpool's attacking chances, Coutinho, he performed well at the beginning of the season!"

"Let's take a long shot! It's missed!"

"This is a good try. We need to play this kind of ball more! Find your confidence and feel with your feet. Maybe you can score with the next shot!"

"Ah..." Zhang Lu occasionally said something.

"Leicester City! Mahrez's sudden advance! Liverpool players can't hold him back, they are too flexible!"

"Another long shot! And! Pass the ball backwards!"

"Chen Yufeng volleyed! It was too high!"

"Liverpool's goal is full of dangers. Just a little bit away, Leicester City can score a goal!"

"Chen Yufeng has scored 5 goals and 1 assist in the past three rounds. He will still be Liverpool's key target today!"

"Bear..." Zhang Lu nodded in agreement.

Others are just sentences, but he is really words.

"I believe that after last season's miraculous win, Leicester City is no longer a weak team in people's minds. This game with Liverpool may be called a strong dialogue!"

"And this kind of strong dialogue, the birth of the first goal, is very important, and it also plays a decisive role in the final victory!"

Zhan Jun is still doing the commentary conscientiously, and the two people's talk volume is not at the same level.

Perhaps, Sina Sports should take this into consideration when signing the commentary contract and pay more to Zhan Jun and less to Zhang Lu.

"Here it comes! Firmino!"

"Push into the far corner! The ball went in! Liverpool took a 1-0 lead! This is a crucial goal!"

"In the 37th minute of the first half, Liverpool took the lead!"

"We saw that Ranieri's expression was relatively calm. In this difficult game, maybe he was ready to give up long ago and he wanted to focus on playing in the Champions League."

"Chen Yufeng was not in very good condition today. After winning the UEFA Player of the Year award, every time he got the ball, more than three Liverpool players would come to defend him."

"In this case, maybe he needs to perform better to be able to score."

The scene of this strong battle was still very exciting. Liverpool's suppression was very strong. They kept surrounding Leicester City's half and pressing high, trying to keep the flames of war burning in Leicester City's dangerous area as much as possible.

Leicester City, on the other hand, is still implementing their counterattack tactics. Due to the large space provided by Liverpool, their counterattacks can occasionally create a very sufficient threat.

However, the defensive players of both teams performed well today, basically making no mistakes and not giving too many opportunities. Firmino's goal was due to the team's very good frontcourt cooperation, which forced him to break out of the way.

As time passed like this, Leicester City gradually showed signs of decline, and everyone's desire to win seemed to have weakened.

"The first half is almost over, will there be another goal?"

"Coutinho is still carrying the ball from the wing, will he still cut inside?"

"Change of pace! Another kick from Coutinho!"

"Schmeichel saved the ball! He shot beautifully and defended brilliantly!"

"Firmino! Follow-up shot!"

"The goal is there! Two to zero! Firmino scored twice!"

Zhan Jun's excited voice continued to sound. Firmino spread his hands on the court, ran to the sidelines and danced a samba dance. He seemed to be in a very good mood.

The Leicester City players looked at each other and lowered their heads.

The midfield game ended quickly. After the fifteen-minute break, Kante, Vardy, and Chen Yufeng were replaced and sat on the bench to watch the game.

Klose, Albrighton and Ndidi stepped onto the court.

Ranieri seems to have given up on this game, and he has no hope for the final result.

"Oh!"

In the 71st minute of the game, Liverpool scored again.

Coutinho's corner kick caused chaos in Leicester City's defense in the penalty area. It was Firmino again who made a wonderful flying shot and kicked the football into the net.

Three to zero!

Firmino completes his hat trick!

Towards the end of the game, Leicester City gained results in the counterattack. Mahrez broke through the defense of Liverpool's penalty area and hit the far corner with a volley.

Three to one!

"Beep! Beep! Beep--!"

After this goal, the referee also blew the whistle to end the game.

Leicester City suffered its first defeat of the new season. They lost to Uncle Klopp's Liverpool, and their opponents got their revenge.

"Yeahhhh...!" A burst of cheers erupted in the huge Anfield stadium, as the Liverpool fans celebrated this victory.

"You played very well. It's understandable that you lost in rotation. In four days you will be playing in the Champions League."

When the two coaches shook hands at the end, Klopp shook Ranieri's right hand, smiled and comforted: "I hope we can all play to the best level on the day of the showdown at the King Power Stadium."

"no problem."

Ranieri smiled faintly, then turned and walked away.

In any case, after losing, everyone in Leicester City must be in a normal mood.

The players did not take a shower in the shower room near the dressing room, and boarded the return bus directly, hoping to return to Leicestershire as soon as possible.

After getting in the car, Ranieri also stood up, as if he wanted to give some advice, "If I remember correctly, the last time I lost was against Arsenal last season."

"We have never tasted losing for a long time before, and we can often score more than two goals in each game."

"But we all felt this in today's game."

As the bus happened to pass by Anfield, Ranieri pointed to this magnificent stadium: "I think this will make it clear to everyone that the Premier League is not that easy to play."

"Being able to win the final Premier League championship last season does not mean that we can maintain our performance this season and reach the top four or six."

"These wealthy clubs have the most fans in the world and the most glorious history. They have more money to buy people and better foundation to attract players to join."

"And we should recognize our situation clearly. We are still a small club and a grassroots group."

"This season, we are fighting on multiple fronts and losing is inevitable. Everyone may experience this feeling many times. There is no such thing as invincibility in the football world."

"Even if we have Yufeng, Vardy, Mahrez and other efficient shooters, even if they combined can score 50 goals in a season."

"But it may not be worth fifty points."

At the end of his speech, Ranieri shook his head and said with emotion, "There is still a long way to go, boys. I hope our Champions League group stage in four days will go well."

The players still lowered their heads and said nothing.

Chen Yufeng felt that he needed to say something and stood up in the back row, "It's not terrible to lose. No one doesn't lose."

"Even Barcelona, ​​the cosmic team back then, and Real Madrid, the current Galacticos team, may lose to small teams."

"It's not a shame that we lost to Liverpool."

"Play well in the next games. The league has just started the fourth round. This doesn't mean anything."

"Be yourself and look at the path we have taken this season after the season is over. If everyone can exert their full strength, then I believe that we will be grateful to who we are now after the season."

"Come on, Leicester City!"

His words didn't make the players raise their heads, but everyone actually remembered them.

Maybe, when some important moments come, they will figure it all out.

What Chen Yufeng wanted to do was just to give them a warning.

Time passed like this day by day, and the Leicester City players became much quieter in the next few days of training.

It seems that this failure has still affected the self-confidence of many people.

(End of this chapter)