Chapter 283 A Show of Strength

"Beep~"

Accompanied by a long whistle from the referee Michael Oliver, the 13th round of the 2017-2018 Premier League kicked off at Anfield.

This match was the 51st encounter between the two teams in the Premier League. In the past 50 games, the two sides were evenly matched, with 19 wins, 12 draws and 19 losses. Liverpool had a more obvious home advantage, with 13 wins, 6 draws and 6 losses. However, the results in the last six home games were not ideal, with only 1 win, 1 draw and 4 losses.

Liverpool, who had the advantage of kicking off, quickly organized an effective offensive. After several consecutive passes, Milner directly handed the ball to Li Qing who raised his hand to ask for the ball.

When Marcos Alonso saw the ball rolling towards Li Qing, he did not have any extra thoughts and directly pushed Li Qing down behind him. The referee Oliver whistled and gave Liverpool a direct free kick on the right side of the frontcourt.

"wuwuwuwuuuuuuu——"

Also, there was an overwhelming booing, sent to Marcos Alonso who violated Li Qing.

Marcos Alonso didn't care. He would definitely face Li Qing many times in this game. In order to make the next game easier, it would be a good idea to give a little prestige in advance.

Li Qing stood up along Firmino's outstretched right hand and looked at Marcos Alonso thoughtfully.

A prestige?

Hehe...

Because the position was too far away, it was a bit irrational to shoot directly, so this ball was used to compete for the header for the offensive players in the penalty area.

In the past two red and blue battles, Marcos Alonso did not get any advantage, but was repeatedly dribbled by Li Qing, so Li Qing wanted to know where his confidence came from.

Milner's offensive right free kick was headed out by Christensen, and the football just flew to Li Qing who was waiting at the front of the penalty area.

The fans in the audience instantly became excited, stood up, and burst into a loud shout: "aoaooaoaooaoooo——"

Li Qing swung his left foot to meet the ball and hit it out.

"Boom~"

Marcos Alonso and Kante, who wanted to block the shot head-on, both heard a clear explosion and were instantly terrified.

How painful it would be if the ball hit him!

Goalkeeper Courtois looked at the football flying rapidly through the gap between people and had no time to react. All he could do was keep his eyes on the football.

"——Bang!"

The football flying at high speed hit the intersection of the left goal and the crossbar fiercely, making a crisp collision sound.

"wowowoowooooo——"

The loud cheers that erupted over Anfield were instantly replaced by exclamations.

The ball bounced back and was headed out of the bottom line by the quick-reacting Azpilicueta before Firmino could react...

"The goalpost! What a pity!"

Juli TV commentator Zhan Jun exclaimed: "The Anfield goal didn't distinguish between friend and foe at this moment, rejecting Li Qing's first shot from the penalty area!"

Li Qing, who missed the goal, grabbed his hair with both hands, looking very regretful.

The head coach Klopp reacted even more violently, as if he was hit in the chest by a machine gun, and leaned back directly on the artificial turf in the home team coach's command area.

The goalkeeper Courtois, who reacted, roared at the defenders: "What are you doing? Keep an eye on that damn Li! Don't let him kick!"

The Chelsea defenders felt wronged and thought: If we can stop him from shooting, why do we need you? Watching the show?

The on-site director gave a close-up shot of Li Qing's face. The fans in front of the TV saw that Li Qing was no longer the regretful expression. He became full of fighting spirit again, as if he would not give up until he scored a goal.

Juli TV commentator Zhan Jun said loudly: "Li Qing contributed a long shot that was enough to score a goal just two minutes into the game. We can easily see that his condition is very good. Will it be difficult to score a goal? No! It's just a matter of time."

Li Qing's excellent start immediately attracted the attention of Liverpool players. In addition to Marcos Alonso's occasional fouls, Kante, Bakayoko and Drinkwater would actively seek physical confrontation.

To be precise, fouls were used to organize Li Qing's ball advancement.

Liverpool's offense was much slower without Li Qing, and Chelsea's defense was much simpler.

As the defense blossomed in multiple places, Chelsea's offense gradually improved. Hazard, who got the ball, repeatedly created killing opportunities. Fortunately, Van Dijk did a very good job in one-on-one defense and did not give Hazard any shooting opportunities.

Li Qing, who was gradually frozen, was not without any action. His long passes and passing often made the team's offense suddenly clear. Unfortunately, Firmino and Mane did not seize the opportunity.

The two sides attacked back and forth, and the game time passed very quickly. In a blink of an eye, it came to the 20th minute, and the score on the scoreboard was still 0:0.

Marcos Alonso and Kante, who were defending Li Qing, were a little bit arrogant during this period, thinking that they had frozen the invincible Li Qing through their efforts.

Is it really so?

Li Qing kept retreating to get the ball and organize the attack, not because he was afraid of Marcos Alonso and Kante's defense, but because he was observing Chelsea's defense loopholes.

It was relatively easy for Li Qing to score a goal, because... his skill [Superstar Moment] had cooled down.

Ten minutes later, the fanatical atmosphere at Anfield Stadium had somewhat declined. Chelsea's right winger Zappacosta made a 45-degree cross from the right, and the ball passed the front point with a clear instep arc. Morat was unable to exert enough force even though he headed the ball under Matip's interference, and the ball was easily held by Mignolet.

Chelsea players had a very high tactical execution ability, and they looked for Li Qing as soon as they switched from offense to defense.

Marcos Alonso and Kante did a very good job in this regard. Mignolet's hand-thrown ball was naturally not given to Li Qing, but to Robertson on the left.

As Chelsea retreated to the half court in succession, Robertson had a lot of space to get the ball. After more than ten consecutive passes, the ball came to Li Qing's feet who retreated to the center circle to receive the ball. Marcos Alonso did not follow for unknown reasons, but Kante was always there, and Bakayoko and Drinkwater assisted in defense.

Feeling the concentration of Chelsea's defensive players, Li Qing's mouth corners slightly raised, a little disdainful.

Conte, standing in the visiting team coach's command area, put his hands in his pockets, frowned, and locked his eyes on Li Qing who was protecting the ball.

According to the past half an hour of the game, Li Qing is likely to pass the ball back to his teammates.

Sure enough!

Facing Kante and Bakayoko, who was eyeing him, Li Qing did not dare to take the ball and turn around, but handed it to central defender Van Dijk.

But at this moment, Li Qing, who seemed to be about to suddenly move forward, suddenly stopped on the spot. Kante and Bakayoko, who had already subconsciously completed the turn, reacted half a beat slower.

Van Dijk has a strong ability to read the game and immediately gave the ball to Li Qing again.

"aooaoaooaooooo——"

The Liverpool fans at Anfield subconsciously burst into a loud cheer, cheering for Li Qing's speeding up.

Liverpool head coach Klopp naturally clenched his fists: "Are you going to speed up?"