Chapter 607 Before the Game

With the end of the Champions League group stage, Liverpool's opponent in the next round of the quarter-finals has become clear.

Because Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham all qualified as the second in the group, due to the principle of avoiding the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals, teams that are divided into the same group in the group stage cannot meet, and teams from the same league cannot meet.

Therefore, Liverpool's opponents in the quarter-finals have suddenly decreased by four, leaving only Atletico Madrid, Schalke 04, Ajax and Roma, who may become opponents in the quarter-finals.

And all this will not be revealed until December 17, when the entire Liverpool team is preparing to go to the Club World Cup, and the first round of the Champions League quarter-finals will be held in February next year.

So Klopp's attention is now focused on the next home game against Manchester United.

From the current situation in the Premier League, except for Wolves, whose game was postponed due to the Club World Cup, and Manchester United, Newcastle and Arsenal, who have not yet played against Liverpool, other Premier League teams have been defeated by Liverpool.

It can be said that the current Liverpool team is at its peak. Once Liverpool solves traditional giants such as Manchester United and Arsenal, Liverpool can be said to have no rivals in the Premier League, and the same is true for the Champions League.

Of course, there are no weak teams in the Premier League now. Teams such as Manchester United and Arsenal have not played against Liverpool yet, and everything is still unknown.

In the Champions League, the teams that have been selected after the group stage are all strong teams. Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid, Bayern, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, etc. have the opportunity to beat Liverpool, but in the end, all this depends on Liverpool's state.

Therefore, the double red battle at Anfield on the 16th is the best event to test Liverpool's recent state.

Manchester United coach Mourinho has been under a lot of pressure recently. Earlier, he said that Manchester United must not lose in the Premier League in December, otherwise the team will lose its competitive position in the standings.

So far, Manchester United has done it in the first three games in December, and I am afraid no one knows whether it can be done in the fourth game.

The main injured players in Manchester United now include Sanchez, Luke Shaw, Rojo and Lindelof. In addition, it is doubtful whether Martial and Smalling can play in this game.

Judging from the injury list, Manchester United seems to be seriously short of players now, but it should be no problem to send a defensive lineup similar to the last Champions League match against Valencia, but Phil Jones's competitive state is not very ideal.

So in short, Manchester United will definitely not be able to send out the strongest lineup in this double red battle, but in the positions where some main players are injured, the replacements are not completely substitutes, but players with certain strength.

As for Liverpool, after the end of the Champions League group stage, the team conducted routine inspections. Defender Matip was injured in the game and could not play in this round of the Premier League. Fortunately, another central defender Lovren recovered from injury in time and was able to replace Matip.

In addition, Henderson was suspended for this round of games and will not be able to play. Salah and Gomez will also continue to be absent due to injuries.

But as we all know, Liverpool's forwards have recovered recently. In the match against Hoffenheim, Mane and Firmino scored goals, and Shaqiri also assisted.

In addition, Li Qing, who is currently in the first place in the Premier League scorer list and has scored far more goals than his competitors behind him, does not have to worry too much about Liverpool's offensive power.

It's just that without Matip and Gomez, Liverpool's defense quality and peak will decline compared with previous games.

In addition, I don't know if it's because of the last round of the Champions League group stage, the atmosphere in the team has become a little weird, especially the head coach Klopp has not made any statement after the game, which makes many people feel a little nervous.

Of course, Li Qing is not included among these people. He did not play in the Champions League and is one of the few main players in the team who got a rest. Klopp did not make any special training requirements for Li Qing, so Li Qing spent most of his time running laps during training.

"Li, do you think the coach is still angry with me?" Henderson ran to Li Qing and began to beat around the bush.

In the last game, he was the captain on the field, and the team was suppressed by the opponent for most of the game. He must be responsible as the captain, especially on the field, he did not find that his teammate Matip was injured, which led to the team's second goal.

So although Henderson and Matip both scored in the game, they were very uneasy in their hearts.

Li Qing was a little ridiculous. Recently, he expressed his helplessness towards his nagging captain. How could he know what he didn't know!

In Li Qing's view, Klopp was angry, which was inevitable. Since he knew that the head coach was angry, asking questions was meaningless. Adjusting the state and winning the game was the key. Why consider so many things?

"Captain, if you have time, go and pay attention to our opponents in the Club World Cup, and think about how we can beat our opponents in the West Asia game. As for the coach, when we beat Manchester United, everything will be fine."

Li Qing said lightly, but Henderson was even more unsure in his heart, "No, Li, do you know something? If you know anything, tell me quickly, don't..."

"Jordan!" Li Qing interrupted Henderson quickly, "You are too nervous. You will make me nervous too. Relax. I will lead the team to score a few more goals in the match against Manchester United. Don't worry, it's okay!"

"But..." Henderson began to worry about the game again, "I can't play in the Manchester United game. Except for you, Mane and Firmino never play well against Manchester United..."

"Stop!" Li Qing stopped and glared at Henderson unhappily. He looked around and didn't see anyone looking at him. He lowered his voice: "Don't think too much. With me here, everything is not a problem!"

After that, Li Qing ignored Henderson and ran forward faster. Henderson chased him for a few steps, but found that he was getting farther and farther away, so he stopped helplessly.

Noticing that Henderson didn't catch up, Li Qing breathed a sigh of relief. The captain was good in everything, but he was easily nervous and worried about gains and losses off the court, and he didn't have the determination and confidence on the court at all.

Maybe this has something to do with his previous experience. After all, Henderson was always criticized in the early stage of joining Liverpool. At that time, Ferguson was still in Manchester United. Every time there was a derby, he would make fun of Henderson and laugh at him as a fake Liverpool player.

Even the local Liverpool newspaper "Echo" at that time often commented on Henderson, saying "Sometimes it is really painful to watch Henderson play!"

But who would have thought that Henderson would be able to gain a firm position in Liverpool and take over the captain's armband from Gerrard?

It seems that the captain is really old, so let me, the captain, lead the team fearlessly and continue the glory!

Li Qing thought so, and the frequency of running became faster...