The first game of 2022 is very interesting, and at 8:30 pm on New Year's Day, Arsenal will welcome the 20th round of the league opponent Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium.
Let's say goodbye to everyone for the early years, and then we'll get to the point.
Home team: The Gunners are currently facing six consecutive wins in all competitions, with 19 goals scored in those six games, conceding just two goals, and 14 in their last three games.
It looks intimidating, but this result is a bit watery. These six defeated generals were either in poor shape or in a big wreckage.
Away team: More than this period of time, let's say that throughout 2021, the results of the away team can be said to be "terrifying".
Just look at the records they set this year, you know that there were ancients in the past, but it is difficult to have comers after them.
Home team: 20 rounds were postponed due to the epidemic problem of the opponent, compared to the away team, they were given a valuable opportunity to rest.
Judging from recent matches, the home team's attacking line is indeed worthy of praise.
If the team's offense is a stream of water, then Lacazette is the pump, if the offense is a battle, then he is the radio station in the command, his state is crucial to the team's attack, from the last few games, the state is very good.
Of course, this is also inseparable from the excellent performances of Martinelli, Saka, Odegaard, Smith Rowe.
In midfield, the combination of Thomas and Xhaka has worked well, but be aware that Xhaka has clashed with his opponents in two consecutive games and has eaten cards.
If you remove Xhaka's "Card Master" attribute, he is a very good, even top midfielder, but Tanuki estimates that this attribute will follow his entire career.
The backline has not been peaceful recently, and Kenyang Fu'an tested positive, allowing Ben White to be in the position of full-back, looking to play well, but his opponents did not give him enough tests, and the same is true of the centre-back Wholding who replaced him.
Overall, the home team's attack line is fierce, the midfield has certain hidden dangers, and the rear defense has not been tested.
Injury: Kolasinac Aubameyang (laid-off) Kenyang Fuan (test positive)
Away team: As one of the few teams that played the December schedule, the physical impact is actually not large, for various reasons, their recent opponents are either miserable or crippled, such an intensive Christmas schedule, they are almost dancing, singing, rotating and destroying the opponent.
However, psychological fatigue may become a problem, other teams will be more or less passive "holiday" during the Christmas period, while they have been "on duty", from the last round of games can be seen that they are somewhat lazy.
As the media commented, Manchester City, anyone can attack, anyone can be in the key position when attacking.
"Epee Without Edge" is the best interpretation of the away team's attacking line, they don't have a real striker, but almost everyone can score, even if geniuses like Glaglish and Foden are pressed on the bench, they can still kill the Foxes by 6 goals.
There is good news and bad news in midfield.
The good news is that Tintin is almost back to his best, he scores a goal when the team is attacking well, and the team gives assists if he needs his pass.
The bad news is that the lower back position may not be available.
Rodri may still not be able to play in this round, Ferdinandinho will certainly be tired of fighting consecutively at this age, and Gundogan's performance in this position over the years has not been ideal.
In the backline, Walker's absence had little impact, and although Zinchenko had limited ability, considering Walker's previous state, the team had nothing to lose.
Compared to the home team, their attack power is more terrifying, the midfield also has a little problem, and the defense is relatively complete.
Injury: Rodry (uncertain) Stones (uncertain) Walker
Home team: Ta Zi Ge tested positive, this game is definitely not available.
But thinking about his poor on-the-spot adaptability, Tanuki feels that the impact on the team at the tactical level will not be great.
Morale will definitely be affected, but for the youth army, if you will be fooled, the morale will be high.
In terms of conventional tactics and squad, the home team wants to beat Manchester City, and there is little hope.
But in the last round, Brentford, with a crippled squad, contributed a "how to deal with Manchester City" teaching game for his peers.
Although losing 1-0, the content of the game can be a great inspiration for other teams.
In fact, it is not complicated, just three points.
1. Abandon part of the position (midfielder) and defend intensively in the middle of the penalty area, while keeping an eye on the ribs on both sides of the penalty area.
Playing for a team like Manchester City, don't think about scoring more goals than them, but seek to let them score fewer goals than they do.
Dense defense, almost all strong teams will have headaches, and the weakness of the away team's personality is precisely this: if they can't take the lead for a long time, the player's mentality will be unbalanced.
With all due respect, this is difficult for the home team to do, not that the home team is not as defensive as Brentford, but the types of defensive players are different.
Moreover, with Xhaka's personality, the mentality of the away team is not yet out of balance, and he may be out of balance first.
2. Quickly counter-attack after a midfield steal.
This is not in conflict with the first one, giving up the position of midfield does not mean that there is no midfield for 90 minutes.
The away team's last two opponents, whether it was the Foxes or Brentford, had a quick counter-attack after a steal in midfield, and both had good results.
This style of play, the home team is just better at it. However, against the away team, the timing of this move is the most important, the timing is not right, it is very likely to be counterattacked by the away team's backhand, and the away team's counterattack efficiency is very high.
In the absence of Ta Zi Brother, it is a little difficult to use this trick well.
3. Set-pieces.
With the weak winning, set-pieces have always been the most important means of attack.
The away team has fewer high points, which gives the home team full room to play the set-piece, and the home team's corner kick ability is quite good, which is a drama.
Away team: In the eyes of Tanuki, Guardiola's most distinctive feature among many famous managers is that he likes to engage in "scientific research" (that is, the whole work in the mouth of the fans).
Rodri's absence in this round of competition gave him the opportunity to engage in scientific research.
Of course, There are also many successful cases of Gua Shuai's scientific research achievements, so I will not repeat them too much here, and I have time to nag with everyone alone.
As mentioned earlier, talking about the conventional playing style of the two teams is of little significance, so let's talk about some recent changes in the away team.
Maybe it's the consecutive battles that make the team a little slack, or maybe the consecutive victories that make the players change their psychology, and the visiting team has shown some signs of pride in recent matches.
For example, against the Foxes, why was the second half so thrilling?
With a 4-goal lead, being pulled three goals in a row, I don't think there is any explanation, if it weren't for two consecutive goals to stabilize the game, the away team might have become the background board for the Fox miracle reversal.
Speaking of those two goals, let's talk about another recent change in the visiting team, the set-pieces.
This season, the away team's ability to set the ball has been less conspicuous, perhaps without the need for a set-piece to be able to settle the battle.
Against the Foxes, they won with 2 set-pieces, followed by Brentford, and although Laporte's goal was blown offside, it can be seen that the set-piece weapon is being incorporated into their arsenal.
This round will be a big test for the away team's set-pieces, especially its cornering ability.
You know, the home team is one of the few teams in the Premier League that does not concede a goal in a corner at present.
The referee of this game is Stuart Artwell, and his level of law enforcement is clear to quote a peer evaluation of him: "His choice is very good, but his sentence is a joke." "So, his penalty could be an unexpected factor in this game.
Smithro has scored in four consecutive league games and if he can continue to score in this game, he will be the third youngest player to score in five consecutive games after Anelka (19 years and 239 days), Reyes (21 years and 10 days).
Arsenal have won five straight at home and have kept clean sheets in the last four games, the last time they were able to keep a clean sheet at home was 23 years ago (January-April 1999).
Sterling has scored goals in the last three games against Arsenal, and Anelka is currently the only player to have scored in arsenal's four away games, two for Arsenal and two for Manchester City.
Under Guardiola's leadership, City opened the scoring in the first 15 minutes of their 5 away games against Arsenal and scored in the first two minutes of the past 2 seasons.
1. Can Rodri make a comeback?
Fernandez is old, Gundogan is incompetent, Rubendiás? Maybe it's a good idea.
2. How much does Arteta's inability to command have on morale?
Tactics may be negligible, but in the absence of league managers, most teams don't win games.
3. Ben White and Holden, can City take their place against such a strong attack?
Ben White's offensive ability, playing full-backs may be good, and Holden has a stable chance to face a strong opponent in a few games, which is a bit worrying.
Whether it is from the strength of the lineup, the way of playing, or the characteristics of the two teams (the home team is difficult to win after the goal, the away team away team will often advance the goal), the home team has a low chance of winning.
But Tanuki is still optimistic about the home team.
Because the home coach was absent, he was defeated by 5 goals by the away team in the last meeting, which was for the mourning soldiers.
The away team has recently shown signs of pride and light enemies, which is for the pride of the soldiers.
As the old saying goes: Proud soldiers will be defeated, and mourning soldiers will win.