In the early morning of Beijing time on the 14th, the first leg of the other semi-final of the English League Cup, Liverpool and Arsenal exchanged a white paper 0-0 at home. In the 24th minute of the first half, Xhaka kicked Jota from outside the box and was sent off with a red card, and the 10-man Gunner stood firm against the Reds' 17 shots. The second leg of the meeting between the two sides will begin in the early morning of January 21, Beijing time.
Without the African duo, how much impact will it have on Liverpool? In the Klopp era, the Reds have failed to score 3+ goals in only 1 of their previous 9 home games against Arsenal; since the arrival of "Uncle Scum", Liverpool have scored 43 goals against Arsenal in all competitions, higher than any opponent in the same period. However, it was the Gunners, who lost four times away to Anfield for the first time this season, and then fought against the home team that had become a cripple, but burst out of admirable courage. In the desperate situation of Xhaka recklessly digging a sinkhole in the opening 24 minutes, the 10-man Gunners stood firm against the opponent with 17 shots on goal, seven points self-help, three points opponents complete, who would have thought that liverpool were clean sheeted on the home of the home for the first time this season, which would happen to Arsenal, which has always been strong and weak?
"Fama" is absent collectively, but Klopp is not ready to give up the League Cup, and goalkeeper Alisson, who has never played in the League Cup so far, has rarely started, which shows the importance of the home team. The team's start was also too good to be good: the dislocated Xhaka was anxious to put the shovel behind his back, naturally could not escape the referee's eyes, representing the club 233 times, the Swiss received 5 red cards, all of which were directly punished, which was the player with the most chases from the Gunners in the same period, and the total number of red cards in his personal career came to 11. But before being sent off, Xhaka failed all 4 confrontations, the first foul was sent off, in a word, the Swiss who are not in the state, the end is not necessarily a bad thing, not to mention that since Arteta led the team, the Gunners have eaten 13 red cards on all fronts, at least 5 more than any Premier League counterpart, whether willing or unwilling, the downsizing operation at least has a relatively adequate plan.
Throughout the first half, Arsenal, forced to retreat, barely had the strength to fight back, and the possession rate was a miserable two-eight. However, unlike the game course that most fans expected, the two sides actually shot zero shots in the first half, and Liverpool's best chance was only to release Ramsdale's big foot directly to Henderson's feet shortly after the opening, but the Reds captain, who was obviously not prepared for the gift, chased the ball a little slower and failed to break the goal. At other moments, Liverpool's Firmino, Jota and Takushi Minami's Trident, do not match each other, and after Keita's absence, the weakness of the poor midfield scheduling ability is further magnified, throughout the first half, the Reds' offensive core is actually the center back Matip, cameroon in the first half of the 3 successful confrontations, 2 passes and 4 long pass success rates are also 100%, but the overall pressure on the defensive line, still can not give the opponent enough pressure.
In the second half, Liverpool's most prominent attack point was still Takumi Minamino, but unlike the previous League Cup slashing and slashing against lower-level teams, the Japanese lacked singles ability and the weakness of mediocrity in the goal, which was exposed in the strong dialogue. At the beginning of the second half, Minamino first deflected the ball from the side like a pass, and when the game came to the early hour, Robertson's direct plug found Minano, but the latter's small angle sweep was again inaccurate. Just after this attack, Arsenal played the most heart-palpitating counter-attack of the game, Tierney crossed to find Saka, who was the first to go from inside the box, but the Gunners' right winger stopped the ball slightly larger, and the push in front of the goal was blocked by alisson. At the end of the game, Ramsdale, who had been making small mistakes in the game, once again "gave a chance", his slightly reckless attack failed to hit the ball, but Nanye, who had become an empty goal in the center of the penalty area, pushed and fired an anti-aircraft cannon.
This season, Liverpool's opponents on all fronts have been sent off 6 times, but in the time of playing one more person, Klopp's team has only scored 3 goals, 2 of which are penalties, and the official may praise the Reds for "Feier Polai", not taking advantage of the danger of people, but such a woman's benevolence has really caused the Reds to bury a lot of points in vain. Liverpool, who did not shoot for the first time until injury time, the bitter days of missing two major strikers were the beginning, and Arsenal further tempered their mentality from this hard-won draw: Ben White incarnated van Dijk, who had 5 clearances, 3 blocking shots, 3 steals, 3 interceptions and 3 confrontation victories, had not been beaten once; it was only 2 and a half months before he was appointed to substitute Cedric Chambers, who was released 8 times as the highest in the game, and also successfully won 3 times. Ramsdale, who played against the sky last time but was still beaten into a sieve, became the goalkeeper who kept a clean sheet at Anfield for the first time since April 2021, thanks to his teammates for giving up their lives.
Liverpool, who lost the lead in the semi-finals of the League Cup and suffered severe attrition, have just begun to dream of a long night, and even Carragher can't help but lament: "I thought Klopp would be replaced after half-time, but he actually didn't make adjustments, unbelievable!" After all, the opponent is only 10 people, and the team has a better choice. In addition to substitutions, the team's set-pieces and crosses were also terrible. Salah and Mane are absent, the strength of the team has dropped dramatically, and their value lies not only in their individual ability, but also in almost every game played. Arteta, on the other hand, praised the team's fighting spirit in the face of adversity: "The players showed great fighting spirit, determination and brotherhood, we never gave up, and the draw was credited to everyone. I don't know if the red card inspired them, but that's probably what the game needs, I don't make excuses, and they did. ”
It was Zaka who caused trouble again, and the red army tago was good
Zaka! It's Zaka again!
You wouldn't expect history to repeat itself so quickly. On New Year's Day, Arsenal took on Manchester City and was very likely to score at least one point, but because Xhaka was not calm, he sent a penalty. Less than two weeks later, Arsenal and another "big guy" fought for league cup finals because Xhaka was not calm and almost lost. After entering the New Year, he won 3 games in all competitions, this game was flattened before the losing streak, the FA Cup was eliminated by the Championship Nottingham Forest, and the voices questioning Arteta rose again.
Fortunately, Arsenal were outnumbered and held out for more than 70 minutes, retreating from Anfield. Still didn't win, but Arsenal stopped the losing streak, a good thing; still stained red, but Arsenal didn't concede a goal, a big deal. Before young coaches make a career, it is inevitable that they will be frustrated, and it is inevitable that as soon as the wind blows, the future will be overshadowed. Arteta did not panic in the face of the new setback, defusing the situation with excellent command ability, allowing Liverpool to eat a duck egg at home for the first time this season. attaboy.
Of course, Arsenal can fight a 0-0, with an element of luck. Salah and Mane were absent for the Africa Cup of Nations, and Liverpool's attack was greatly discounted. A few days ago, the FA Cup played League One side Shrewsbury, Klopp sent a mixed squad to cope, but this game is the League Cup semi-final, playing this part, the title is overwhelming.
Before the game, Klopp reassured Reds fans: The renewal negotiations with Salah are going well and I am confident. Liverpool only had one shot on goal in the whole game, and it should be Salah who is more confident in getting the expected treatment. The Times joked that if the two sides were still tug-of-war in negotiations, Salah could use the video as "evidence in court."
Playing Manchester City at home two weeks ago, Gabriel's red card came in the 60th minute, and Arsenal survived stoppage time and conceded three points. Why can Arsenal carry it for more than an hour? Two points: Arteta learned his lesson quickly enough; Liverpool didn't cross. Against Manchester City, Arteta's scheduling was not a failure - replacing Theo defender with Holden and Replacing Lacazette with Smith Rowe to consolidate the midfield, but it failed to essentially reverse his own passivity. This time he learned to be obedient, replacing Him with a centre-back for Holdendo, and then replaced tavales in the 81st minute, and Arsenal had 6 defenders, basically breaking the home team's attack.
Liverpool did not sacrifice their own routine, and playing more crosses was another reason for failing to win the game. At the end of the day, Klopp was replaced by the 4th substitute, and Alexander Arnold (playing the League Cup for the first time in 5 years) came off the field before remembering the cross, too late.
Arsenal defended well and had two to praise: Ben White and Tierney. Due to a gap in the front, the ball that was released was easily intercepted by Liverpool, and immediately returned to the Arsenal hinterland, very passive. White and Tierney are calmer than their teammates in handling the ball, and the latter also carries the ball from time to time, implying a killer in his perseverance.
Arteta's preparations were repeatedly disrupted long before Xhaka's red card. Erdegaard tested positive before the game, Nketiah Lee was stiff, and the starter suddenly advanced. Lacazette took up Edgar's work for the retreat. After playing 11 minutes, Cedric was injured again in the right gate, and the long-lost Chambers came on. Xhaka has already eaten 5 red cards, how long will Atta put up with him? It's true that the Africa Cup of Nations sucked out two midfielders, but wouldn't it be more dangerous for Xhaka to play? In the case of this red card, if he does not kick Jota down, the consequences could be two: Jota scores, and Jota does not score. This kick went away, and there was only one result.
The previous 4 red cards were all straight red, and Xhaka really didn't leave a back road when he made trouble. Although his red card did not necessarily lead to Arsenal's loss, it was a bane to add pressure to his teammates and annoy the manager for no reason. As the red card for domestic competitions doesn't stop only the relevant matches, Arteta still needs to ensure that there is no time bomb in the starting lineup when home to Liverpool. When he first took office, the FA Cup triumphed, you can say that Guardiola "gave" the tickets to the final, and if he reached the League Cup final this time, Arteta was really kung fu. Why waste the hard-earned opportunities?
Wen | Yang Jian Lin Liangfeng
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