Chapter 536: The Battle for the Top Spot, a Show of Strength

Liverpool beat Hoffenheim at home. Tottenham, who lost 1:2 to Inter Milan in the first round at San Siro, lost again at home, losing 2:4 to Barcelona. After two rounds of the six group matches, it gave people a sense of déjà vu that they might be eliminated.

After losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the first round, Manchester City narrowly defeated Napoli 2:1 at the San Paolo Stadium in the second round, winning the first victory of the 2018-2019 Champions League group stage. At the same time, it also allowed Manchester City fans who traveled with the team to see the possibility of defeating Liverpool at Anfield Stadium this weekend.

Perhaps the possibility of Manchester City defeating Liverpool as a guest is very small, but Manchester City fans still have a little bit of luck in their hearts, thinking that the team they support has a chance to defeat Liverpool as a guest and end their unbeaten record in the league.

Manchester United, the last team to represent the Premier League in the Champions League group stage, played a sullen battle with Valencia at Old Trafford for 90 minutes at home, and both sides got one point each.

Liverpool's home game against Manchester City is the highlight of the 8th round of the 2018-2019 Premier League, and it is also a battle for the top spot. The Premier League arranges the game time very carefully, and it is the last game of this round.

The game is the last game of the 8th round. The media will not wait until the game comes to pay attention. The Manchester Evening News is full of confidence in the visiting team Manchester City. They believe that Liverpool has indeed won seven consecutive league games and held the first place in the league. Manchester City has also performed well, with 6 wins and 1 draw and 18 points. As long as they beat Liverpool as a guest, Manchester City will reverse the league leader with a 1-point advantage.

The Times is also optimistic about Manchester City. Liverpool has remained unbeaten in the past 61 league rounds, with 54 wins and 7 draws, and a winning rate of 88.5%. However, this world pays attention to balance. Winning to the extreme means losing. Liverpool has created the best unbeaten record in the 21st century. It is difficult to remain unbeaten here under the condition of continuous mental tension, even at home.

Liverpool's local newspapers "Echo" and "Post" are still optimistic about Liverpool. Manchester City is in excellent form this season, remaining unbeaten in seven rounds. Its defense is the same as Liverpool's, conceding only three goals, but its offense has lost seven goals. Liverpool's top scorer Li Qing has contributed 17 goals in seven rounds, only four goals less than Manchester City's team, which can be said to be in hot form.

What makes Liverpool fans feel confident is that Li Qing has contributed 12 goals in the last four league games. In the last round, he scored four goals as a guest at Stamford Bridge, creating an unprecedented free kick four goals. His feet are hot. In the midweek guest at Rhein-Neckar Arena to challenge Hoffenheim in the Champions League group match, he contributed 1 goal and 2 assists, showing his excellent personal competitive state.

For many Liverpool fans, as long as Li Qing is in excellent competitive form, then winning as a guest becomes a matter of course.

Except for the last round of the league when Liverpool played against Manchester City at home, nine league games were held in two days. On the first day, Brighton defeated West Ham 1:0 at home and won the second victory of the new season.

Burnley drew with Huddersfield 1:1, Leicester City lost to Everton 1:2, Crystal Palace 0:1 Wolves, Watford 0:4 Bournemouth.

On the same day, Manchester City coach Guardiola attended the routine pre-match press conference in Manchester. Facing media reports, he stood tall and accepted the interview. Although he did not perform well against Liverpool coached by Klopp in the past, he always believed that the future would be better. Past losses do not mean that there will be losses in the future.

Coupled with the strengthening of the lineup and the better tacit understanding of the players, Guardiola has enough confidence to lead his team to beat Liverpool at Anfield and top the league.

Klopp, the head coach of the home team Liverpool, accepted an interview with the media and did not respond specifically to Guardiola's answer. He said calmly: "All teams that want to beat Liverpool eventually return home in frustration. Manchester City is not the first team to have such an idea, nor is it the last team. I believe the result is the same. Liverpool will win the game in the end!"

Captain Henderson, who also attended the regular press conference, was as confident as ever, saying with a smile: "Jurgen is right. In the words of many media friends, isn't a football match a contest in which Lee wins in the end?"

The media supporting Liverpool cheered loudly, and the media supporting Manchester City sneered, but considering that Liverpool still has the home advantage, no one stood up to argue, so as not to be slapped in the face.

…

The game between Liverpool and Manchester City at home has never lacked highlights. The two teams' celebrities and fans took the lead in launching an overwhelming mutual attack mode on social platforms. The players and coaches of the two teams seemed very friendly and did not join the war of words.

Before the focus battle between Liverpool and Manchester City, three more games have been completed. Manchester City, which has recently been caught in the door of discord between the generals and the coaches, beat Newcastle 3:2 at home, Fulham lost to Arsenal 1:5, and Southampton lost to Chelsea 0:3.

All nine games of the 8th round of the 2018-2019 Premier League have ended, and the focus of sports media and fans around the world is on Liverpool Anfield Stadium in Merseyside.

Anfield Stadium, which can accommodate 54,000 fans, was full two hours before the game. The home team Liverpool fans occupied about 70% of the stadium, Manchester City fans occupied 1.5%, and the remaining 1.5% were filled by neutral fans.

An hour before the game, players from both sides came to the stadium to warm up, and Klopp and Guardiola got the honor of starting for each other.

In fact, before the masters fight, they all focus on studying the strongest lineup that the opponent may use. The two teams had a direct confrontation in the Community Shield at the beginning of the season. At that time, Liverpool defeated Manchester City 4:2 with Li Qing's 2 shots and 1 pass.

Compared with the Community Shield, which lacks core players, the lineup for the 8th round of the 2018-2019 Premier League is obviously much more complete.

The official formation given by the visiting team Manchester City is still 4231, with goalkeeper Ederson, defenders Mendy, Laporte, Stones and Kyle Walker, double defensive midfielder Fernandinho and David Silva, three forwards Sterling, De Bruyne and Mahrez, and forward Aguero.

Liverpool is still the aggressive 433, goalkeeper Alisson, defenders Robertson, Van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Arnold, midfielders Wijnaldum, Henderson and Li Qing, forwards Mane, Firmino and Salah.

"Beep~"

Accompanied by the referee Michael Oliver's whistle, the last game of the 8th round of the 2018-2019 Premier League season was announced to start. Manchester City, which had the advantage of kicking off, did not make any tentative attacks and directly threatened Liverpool's goal through the speed of the wing.

Most of the commentators were still reporting the starting players of both sides to the fans in front of the TV, and Aguero had already completed a very threatening shot. If it weren't for Alisson's quick reaction, Manchester City would have likely broken the deadlock at the beginning of the first half.

Juli TV commentator Zhan Jun changed the subject: "Liverpool's seven consecutive wins this season are certainly worth celebrating, but the first thing to do is defense, otherwise let Manchester City score first, and the game will enter a difficult mode..."

The Liverpool fans who were still frightened were proud afterwards. Li Qing tested Ederson's attention with a long shot to scare the tiger.