Chapter 497 Double Red Meeting

On October 14, at 12:30 noon, at Anfield Stadium, Manchester United challenged Liverpool in the first game of the 8th round of the Premier League.

This is a duel between the two strongest teams in English history.

Compared with Manchester United, which won consecutive games and did not concede a goal in the first seven rounds, Liverpool's record is much worse. Klopp's team only achieved 3 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss, ranking seventh in the standings.

In this game against Manchester United, Liverpool can no longer afford to lose.

Although Liverpool made some reinforcements in the summer transfer window, compared with Manchester United's recruitment strength, it is completely dwarfed.

However, in the face of a game like the Red Devils, many times the final result of the game cannot be predicted based on the team's historical record, recent status, or even team strength.

In history, there are many cases in which the team with good status and relatively poor strength won in the Red Devils.

In this game against Manchester United, Klopp's team took the initiative to launch waves of attacks on Manchester United's goal as soon as the game started, with the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" resounding through the sky at Anfield.

In the first ten minutes, Liverpool's possession rate was as high as 63%.

Three minutes into the game, Henderson made a wonderful pass to the right, Salah passed directly to the penalty area, Coutinho tried to pass the ball to Firmino, but Van Dijk, who had recovered from injury in this round, suddenly rushed up to clear the ball, destroying Liverpool's first attack.

One minute later, it was another direct pass from Henderson, and Salah shot with his left foot in the middle of the penalty area, but failed to hit the power.

Two minutes later, Coutinho passed the ball, and right-back Gomez followed up and shot directly from 25 meters away.

In the seventh minute, after Wijnaldum intercepted the ball in the midfield, Salah tried to dribble into the penalty area, but was successfully intercepted by Cancelo.

The two had worked together in Udinese, and Cancelo naturally knew Salah's characteristics.

In the ninth minute, Firmino dribbled past the defender outside the penalty area and shot from a distance, but was again confiscated by Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea.

One minute later, Wijnaldum took a long shot from more than 30 meters away, but it was a bit too far off.

………………

In the first ten minutes, the game was completely controlled by Liverpool, and Manchester United was forced to defend tightly.

In this game, Gundogan's task was more about midfield defense, especially with Kante, to protect the back line.

It was difficult for Liverpool to break through Manchester United's defense in the middle, so they were forced to frequently use long shots.

Manchester United gradually regained their form until the 15th minute after being taken advantage of by their opponents away from home. The right side, where Mbappe and Valencia were stationed, became an active offensive area for Manchester United, but Klopp also attached great importance to the defense of his own left side. Not only Moreno was always defending behind, but even Coutinho often retreated to help defend.

Seeing that the right side could not open up the situation, Bruno frequently changed his position and often appeared on the left side.

In the following time, the two teams attacked and defended each other.

Among them, Manchester United's most threatening attack occurred in the 33rd minute. Valencia quickly inserted from the right, cooperated with Bruno, and crossed the ball into the penalty area, and Harry Kane headed the ball.

Bruno, who quickly inserted from the right rib into the penalty area, rushed all the way to the front of the small penalty area and headed the ball at close range.

But such a close header was hugged by Liverpool goalkeeper Mignolet.

Harry Kane raised his hand with apology. Under the interference of Matip, he failed to head the ball straight, causing it to be a little high.

Bruno himself felt a little depressed. He subconsciously used his head to head the ball that Harry Kane passed over, but he didn't head it well. In addition, Mignolet was in a good position, so he couldn't score.

But Bruno quickly adjusted his mood and continued to look for opportunities patiently.

………………

Before the end of the first half, Harry Kane retreated to receive the ball and passed it directly behind him. Bruno quickly got rid of Emre Can and inserted it. He successfully countered the offside and rushed into the penalty area with the ball. After shaking off Liverpool goalkeeper Mignolet, when he was about to kick the ball, Liverpool center back Lovren quickly blocked it with his body. At this time, his hand had an obvious opening movement, causing Bruno's shot to hit his hand and bounce out of the bottom line.

Bruno quickly appealed to the referee, believing that it was a deliberate handball and Lovren's hand was obviously open.

"If his hand hadn't been open, my shot would have gone in!" Bruno said with certainty.

But the referee on duty rejected Bruno's appeal, believing that his judgment was not wrong, which made Bruno feel very depressed and turned back.

When Lovren passed by him, he gently patted his shoulder. Obviously, the Croatian himself felt very guilty. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, his arm was indeed open just now.

………………

"It was an undoubted handball! But there is no way, we need to forget this misjudgment and concentrate on the second half of the game."

During the halftime break, in the home team's locker room, Mourinho replayed the slow-motion replay to all the players.

It was definitely a handball. Although it is impossible to tell whether it was intentional or unintentional, it was indeed a handball.

After fighting for 45 minutes, the players were obviously very tired, and the opponent Liverpool was not weak at all.

"As I told you before the game, Liverpool's defensive problems are mainly concentrated in the position of the midfielder's backward movement."

Mourinho drew a long strip of area in front of Liverpool's penalty area on the tactical board.

Goalkeeper Mignolet, Moreno, Lovren, Matip and Gomez in the back line, Wijnaldum, Henderson and Emre Can in the midfield, and Coutinho, Firmino and Salah in the frontcourt.

"To be honest, I am not satisfied with the performance in the first half. Our start was not smooth. We should have taken the initiative, but Liverpool took the lead. Then we failed to complete the pre-match deployment well."

Mourinho pushed the chess pieces representing Manchester United players on the tactical board.

"As we said before the game, we pulled Liverpool's midfield from the two wings and two ribs. They often only have one Henderson in this area. As long as we pull him away, our back-ins will have a chance."

………………

The back-ins Mourinho mentioned are not only the two ribs of Mbappe and Rashford, but also the middle of the team.

Bruno and Gundogan are both good at back-ins and long-range shots.

Bruno has played against Henderson and knows the passing ability of this Liverpool midfielder, but for his defense, Bruno believes that both he and Gundogan have the ability to break through him.

The only trouble is the German iron waist Emre Can, who is like a god, standing at the front of Liverpool's penalty area. It is difficult to break through him.

But one person cannot cover everything. It is difficult for Can to stabilize the midfield alone. This is also the key factor for Liverpool to lose the ball frequently this season and even lose 0:5 to Manchester City.

"Let me do it!" Bruno took the initiative to step forward and stood up and said.

Everyone looked at him at the same time, and their eyes showed admiration.

Facing an opponent like Liverpool, being able to stand up at this time shows Bruno's courage and responsibility.

With such a captain, who would not be convinced?

"I will be responsible for dribbling and attacking, attracting the attention of the defense, and others will be responsible for running into the gaps." Bruno said.

Many times, the core players of a team are not just about scoring goals, but also about taking on more responsibilities.

In particular, core players are often the focus of the opponent's defense.

………………

Looking at the current Manchester United team, it can be said that there is no player with Bruno's comprehensive ability.

Rashford and Mbappe on the two wings both like to run long distances, like to dribble past people, and often solve the opponent in one go, but they are quite different in the overall view.

As for Kante and Gundogan, they are in the back position and are not as easy to attract the attention of the defense as Bruno.

There are many players on the bench who can dribble the ball, but there is really no one who is sure to dribble the ball, attract the attention of the defense, and then pass the ball out. Even Mata can't do this.

But Bruno can do it.

"Then I'll pull in front." Harry Kane also took the initiative to take on the task.

"Matip's condition in this game is not very good, pay attention to this point of his." Bruno reminded Harry Kane.

Just now when he was countering offside, he had already noticed Matip's condition.

Although Matip was chosen by Klopp to join Liverpool, the ability of this German central defender is not top-notch. It is said that Liverpool is already looking for a real top defender to reshape Liverpool's defense.

Bruno knew that if Manchester United had not taken the initiative to dig Van Dijk from Southampton last summer, Liverpool would have been very hot with the Dutch central defender.

However, now that Van Dijk has put on the Manchester United jersey, it is probably difficult for him to wear the Liverpool jersey again in this life.

………………

"Manchester United still passed the ball to the right."

"Give it to Bruno!"

"Bruno started quickly, slammed the ball and changed direction, and cut inside!"

"Beautiful!"

...

Beep!

With the referee's whistle, Moreno climbed up from the grass panting.

Bruno was still lying beside him, not injured, but looked excited.

Damn kid!

Moreno cursed in his heart and slowly backed away.

At the last moment of the first half, Bruno suddenly made an offside run into the penalty area and even dribbled past goalkeeper Mignolet. If Lovren hadn't blocked his shot with his body and a suspected handball defense at the last moment, Manchester United would have scored.

This serious mistake caused Moreno and Matip to be severely criticized by Klopp during the halftime break. Klopp obviously couldn't accept such a mistake in the team's defense.

Moreno was also very angry.