Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 289: Relief and Leap to the Top?

After defeating Norwich, Manchester City are leading the league table.

December has arrived, the busiest month for European leagues, especially for Manchester City, who are competing in the Champions League, the league, and the League Cup. Fortunately, they will only be participating in the FA Cup from the third round until January.

Even so, the team is still under a lot of pressure.

The league continues with the fourteenth round, where Manchester City will travel to Anfield to face Liverpool.

This is a key match in this round.

Liverpool's performance this season has been mediocre. After 13 rounds, they have 21 points and are ranked seventh in the league, a result that is not commensurate with their status as one of the traditional top four in the Premier League.

However, for Liverpool, which is going through a period of turmoil, this result is already quite good.

In October 2010, John Henry became the new owner of Liverpool, and club legend Kenny Dalglish replaced Roy Hodgson as manager.

However, last season, Liverpool finished sixth in the league and failed to qualify for European competitions.

Liverpool's performance this season has been lukewarm so far, and they are hardly noticeable in the Premier League.

However, in this home game against Manchester City, Dalglish gave the team a must-win order. Dalglish believes that beating Manchester City at home will give the team a huge boost in confidence.

This season, Liverpool's goal is to finish in the top four, which is not an unattainable goal for a team like Liverpool.

Liverpool's squad has been quite stable this season. John Henry's continued spending has made Liverpool's squad a top-four team in the Premier League.

Since Torres left, Liverpool have brought in Uruguayan striker Suarez from the Dutch Eredivisie, and Suarez's performance has not disappointed. He quickly became the team's top scorer, and his performance was no less impressive than Torres' when he first arrived at Liverpool.

With the arrival of players like Downing and Adams, Liverpool's midfield strength is not weak either.

However, the media generally still favors Manchester City.

The Guardian reported that, "Although the game is at Anfield, Liverpool will have to face Shan Yongzhuo if they want to beat Manchester City; this is an unavoidable issue."

"Since Dalglish took over, he has never beaten Shan Yongzhuo's Manchester City."

The Guardian's analysis makes sense.

The player who felt the most pressure during the match was not actually Suarez or others, but Liverpool's defensive stalwart Skrtel.

Because Skrtel was responsible for defending against Shan Yongzhuo.

Skrtel felt an immense headache whenever he thought about every fight he had had with Shan Yongzhuo.

In fact, Skrtel is a very good center-back. He is tall and strong, very aggressive in defense, and has explosive power. He is not at a disadvantage against most forwards.

However, in last season's league, his defense was completely ineffective against Shan Yongzhuo.

He still enjoys Dalglish's trust.

Of course, the main reason is that Dalglish had no other choice.

Skrtel was also helpless about this, but all he could do was cheer himself up in his heart, "Come on!"

"We can definitely do it this time!"

"Restrain him!"

"There's no way an opponent can truly be unstoppable; we'll definitely find a way!"

Skrtel entered the game with this determination, and once the match officially started, he went to Shan Yongzhuo's side and closely marked him.

Dan Yongzhuo was already used to this kind of defense, and he simply stood in the frontcourt, waiting for the opportunity to come.

Liverpool capitalized on their early advantage and launched an attack on Manchester City. They played relatively steadily, with captain Gerrard injured, Adams and Lucas anchoring the midfield, and Downing and Henderson covering the flanks.

The attacking duo consists of Suarez and Kuyt.

This midfield and forward lineup allowed Liverpool to play relatively well and make fewer mistakes on the field. However, this lower-spec version of stability also brought problems, namely, it made it easier for Manchester City to defend.

Defending is easy, scoring is difficult.

This is Liverpool's problem.

Despite having a highly efficient striker like Suarez, this conservative style of play doesn't allow Suarez to fully unleash his potential.

In addition, Kuyt's relatively weak scoring ability, which is why Liverpool is currently seventh in the league.

Insufficient ability to break down defenses.

However, their lack of scoring ability did not affect their overall performance. Liverpool still has the strength to play, and they were able to keep pace with Manchester City on the field, making the whole game very intense.

However, the intense match seemed to have nothing to do with two people: Shan Yongzhuo, who was standing in the frontcourt, and Skrtel, who was responsible for defending him.

Skrtel dared not relax for a moment, because he knew that Shan Yongzhuo was like this most of the time, but if he was not careful for even a little bit, the opponent could score a goal.

However, Skrtel observed that Shan Yongzhuo was actually distracted most of the time, especially when Liverpool were attacking.

I don't know what he was thinking.

But this is a competition!

Is it really okay to daydream?

Skrtel felt that the defense was easy, as the opponent did not seem to make many runs. Even when Manchester City attacked, it was easy for him to block their positions. His positional advantage, combined with his physical strength, gave him a complete advantage in defense.

However, in the 15th minute, Manchester City launched a quick attack.

After Barry dribbled the ball past the halfway line, he passed it to Milner, who made a long run and dribbled it all the way to the baseline.

The opposing defender failed to keep up, giving Milner a very comfortable passing space.

Milner delivered a solid low cross, but unfortunately, the Manchester City players in the penalty area couldn't reach it.

Chaos erupted inside the penalty area, and then, as if by magic, the ball was kicked to the right byline.

"Danger!"

Just then, Skrtel sensed that something was wrong.

However, Shan Yongzhuo activated the Ghost Shadow Grappling Hand in advance, using the time difference to completely shake him off, as Skrtel was known for his slow turning speed.

When he turned around, he saw an astonishing scene.

Dan Yongzhuo flew up, performing a diving leap to the top.

"But... what's the point?"

Skrtel was completely stunned; he had no idea why Shan Yongzhuo was doing this.

It was less like a header and more like a clearance.

Because the ball was in the air on the right side of the penalty area, almost reaching the byline.

That kind of diving header would have cleared the ball directly out of bounds, wouldn't it?
(End of this chapter)