Football’s First Defender

Although losing the Merseyside derby with Everton, for Liverpool, some of the momentum of the recent excellent games has been lost.

But the loss of a game is nothing more than a game. Liverpool only needs to regain the game state to regain the momentum of winning streak in the game.

For Liverpool, the following games are also particularly important.

Liverpool host Tottenham at home.

Not only is it a strong duel between the six giants, but it can also be seen as a preview of the English League Cup final two weeks later.

Although this time Liverpool sits at Anfield and occupies a certain advantage, however, the tactical rehearsals of the two sides should not change much.

Liverpool under Rodgers and Tottenham under Pochettino are both teams that almost rely on a set of tactics to win the world in the new season.

Although the team occasionally makes some specific tactical changes, the general tactical direction of the team will not change significantly.

In this game, both sides are playing with all their main players, and they are not afraid of exposing the team's tactics. Instead, they must first try the opponent's current strength and make the best preparations for the English League Cup final two weeks later.

Liverpool, sitting at home, sent a lineup of 433.

After the full-back injury crisis passed, it was still a 433 lineup, which made Rogers feel more at ease.

With Sturridge still plagued by various minor injuries, Balotelli got another chance to start in this game.

Rogers needs Balotelli to be threatening to create offensive threats for Coutinho and Sterling behind him.

The three midfielders, Henderson, Lallana, and Emre Can, are the midfield combination that Rodgers has recently found with the best offensive and defensive balance.

All three have a certain offensive ability, and on the defensive end, running actively can also make the three of them in the midfield, and can use running to cause huge defensive pressure on the opponent when they pass the midfield.

Although Moreno's figure is quite disadvantaged in the Premier League.

But his speed and flexibility can create a threat to the opponent's defense.

Although there is a weakness in defending set kicks, Rogers can only endure Moreno's deficiencies on the defensive end compared to the offensive effect brought by Moreno.

The right back Flanagan is the kind of player who can do everything possible for Liverpool's victory in the game.

Flanagan's enthusiasm can never be underestimated.

As soon as the game started, Liverpool's enthusiasm brought them an excellent offensive opportunity.

In Tottenham, it is rare to control the ball and want to move forward to organize an attack.

For Liverpool, the wide-ranging press organized in the midfield directly intercepted the pass from the Tottenham player.

After that, Coutinho kicked forward and passed the ball directly to the back of Tottenham's left-back central defender.

The moment Coutinho completed the interception, Sterling burst out with all his speed and accelerated forward directly. Although he was very short compared to Tottenham's double central defender, Sterling's speed was too high. Soon, in an instant, he rushed to the forefront.

The closest to Sterling is Tottenham defender Vertonghen.

However, Vertonghen wanted to block Sterling by his own pull, or even physical confrontation, but Sterling ran over in a hurry.

Sterling never gave Vertonghen a chance to stop himself.

Seeing Vertonghen's pulling action from the corner of his eyes, Sterling dodged it as soon as he turned around, and then continued to accelerate, directly rushing past Vertonghen's defense.

After Sterling stopped the ball and accelerated a step, he was already facing the attacking Lori directly.

Sterling didn't dare to procrastinate, and shot one step at a time to complete the goal.

However, Lowry's reaction speed was too fast. During the attack, his legs were stretched to the limit, and he relied on his right foot to successfully block Sterling's kick.

Although Sterling's shooting skills have improved a lot, Sterling's shooting control is still much worse when facing the lightning and flint handling the ball.

Not long after, Coutinho's direct free kick missed the goal guarded by Lloris a little bit.

It's just a pity that the ball fell too slowly in the end, and it flew out of the bottom line by rubbing against the crossbar.

Liverpool's offensive is wave after wave.

After that, Flanagan stepped in from the side and sent a very threatening cross into the penalty area.

Sterling relied on speed to get to the front, but was under pressure from many people.

In the end, Sterling could only turn his back to the goal, reluctantly kicked the ball back.

There was chaos in the restricted area.

At this time, Balotelli was the first to react.

Facing the ball "passed" by Sterling, Balotelli turned sideways and shot directly with his left foot without adjusting.

The hit was sudden, but Lori still reacted quickly, and with a side attack, he miraculously blocked Balotelli's kick.

But the hard work paid off. For Liverpool, the continuous offensive attempts finally reaped quite good offensive effects.

In the 24th minute of the game, Liverpool played a wonderful cooperation in the frontcourt.

While on the move, Lallana sent a very precise pass.

With a through ball, he found Sterling who quickly advanced from the right.

Sterling gave full play to his speed advantage, made a strong breakthrough with the ball, and then cut inside and turned to Tottenham's penalty area.

Sterling's breakthrough successfully caused chaos in the Tottenham penalty area.

Although Sterling's "shooting skills are not good", but in such a dangerous area, Tottenham players had to defend against it.

And when the supplementary defense came, Sterling kicked a pass and passed the ball to the back point area.

Balotelli and Coutinho were near the small box, attracting the attention of other Tottenham defenders, and in this case, the fast forward Henderson received the least attention from the opponent.

When Vertonghen realized that it was a pass to the back point, he turned his head and saw the unguarded Henderson, who followed from behind and shot with one kick!

Henderson is a man with a big heart.

Although not a real shooter, Henderson himself can always score goals at critical moments in key games.

This time, the important task of breaking the deadlock for Liverpool was handed over to Henderson.

Henderson was in the rear point area, and after a quick advance, he jumped up and shot directly, with excellent foot shape control.

The shape is also quite stable, and then Henderson's end shot flew into the goal from the near post.

Lori has already tried his best to pounce on the side, trying to complete the block, but Henderson's kick hit the goal, and his foot has also completed the force. The ball speed is not slow, and the distance is very close. flutter chance.

1 to 0!

Henderson's goal gave Liverpool the upper hand in the preview of the Carabao Cup final.