Faria announced Mkhitaryan's return to the starting line-up in a tactical session ahead of the away game against Southampton.

Li Liang is still on the bench list.

He and his team travelled to the port city of Hampshire in the south-east of England the day before the game.

Before that, in addition to football, everything he knew about the city, that is, the famous "Mayflower" and "Titanic" in history set sail from here.

From a football perspective, Southampton, nicknamed the "Saints", is known for its outstanding youth results, with Bale, Theo Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain, who Li Liang is very familiar with, as well as his team-mate Luke Shaw, all coming out of the Saints' academy.

In the pre-match press conference, a reporter asked about the heart of United's attack, and Mourinho simply replied: "Henrik [Mkhitaryan] is in very good form in training and the rest of the squad is ready. ”

On the day of the game, St. Mary's Stadium was full of people, and Li Liang unexpectedly saw a familiar face during the warm-up.

He saw Gabbiadini, who had made a shocking impression on him at the São Paulo Stadium.

Since coming to the Premier League last season, Gabbiadini has played a series of highlights, but as the Premier League teams have studied and learned about him, the Italian striker's hot form is difficult to continue, and even gradually fades out of the Saints' starting lineup.

During the warm-up, Li Liang took the initiative to greet Gabidhi, and after some conversation, the Italian opened the conversation: "...... Lee, this is probably the most difficult league in the world.

They always find your shortcomings very quickly and put you under a magnifying glass......"

The Japanese central defender of the Saints, Maya Yoshida, also chatted with Li Liang enthusiastically, and finally said: "...... Lee, I wish your national team a good time to beat Australia, and hopefully you can go to Russia too! ”

At the start of the game, the Saints were fearless in the face of Manchester United, who are temporarily second in the table, and the active running and scrambling made the home team not fall behind at all.

Carrick, who was also sitting on the bench, told Li Liang: "In the league, we haven't lost here in six consecutive games, and we have won four of them!" ”

Li Liang was a little worried in his heart, and as the game progressed, the situation he was most worried about still happened.

In the face of the tough defense of Lemina and Romeu, Mkhitaryan's play was clearly curbed.

Marouane Fellaini and Nemanja Matic, who started in place of injured Paul Pogba, did a good job of protecting the Armenian, but they struggled to help their team-mates spread the pressure in attack, which made Mkhitaryan's weaknesses in confrontation and positional attack all the more apparent.

Li Liang immediately remembered Gabbiadini's words, and the Saints had apparently studied United's recent games carefully, using carefully prepared tactics to make the most of the impact of Pogba's absence on Manchester United.

Faria was also a little anxious: "Jose, we must speed up, otherwise Henrik will be completely stuck in the quagmire!" ”

The magic bird stared at the field: "This is the most reliable system we have right now.

Unless there's anyone else who deserves us to tear it all down and rebuild ......"

After speaking, the two turned their heads at the same time and set their eyes on Li Liang.

At the end of the first half, it was surprising that the Saints overwhelmed United in a number of statistics.

The atmosphere in the away team's dressing room was solemn, and Faria specially pulled Mkhitaryan to communicate alone.

Lukaku spread his hands a little dissatisfied: "Head, I really need more space, Henrik and Juan they are too far away from me!" ”

Everyone knows that the little monster, who has scored in five consecutive league games, is desperate to break the record held by French striker Saha for scoring in the first six consecutive league games for Manchester United.

Mourinho didn't say a word, and then it was only Faria who continued to set it up.

In the second half, United's offensive continued to struggle, and the Saints became more and more confident as the shouts from the stands at St Mary's Stadium began to move forward.

Li Liang saw Gabbiadini and another Saints striker, Big Man Austin, start to move, and it seemed that the opponent was ready to further increase the offensive firepower.

Jose Mourinho finally made a change in the 65th minute when Herrera came on to replace the lackluster Mkhitaryan.

The Armenian looked extremely ugly, and very reluctantly, he slapped his hands lightly with the magic bird and sat down on the bench sullenly.

Because he saw that Li Liang had already begun to warm up.

The Saints replaced midfielder Davies with Gabbiadini and began to step up their attack.

In the 72nd minute, Li Liang came on to replace Rashford, and according to the arrangement of the magic bird, he appeared on the left side.

Although Romeu began to focus on Li Liang, United's no.7 brought about a noticeable change immediately after taking on the pitch.

Li Liang showed great possession on the left flank, protecting the ball even in the face of fierce pressing and collisions from opponents, buying precious time for his teammates' interspersed runs.

The magic bird covered its mouth and said to Faria, "This is the difference between Lee and Henrik and Juan, of course, this is not his greatest trait. ”

After establishing a strong point on the ball on the left flank, Ashley Young, who started in place of Blind, quickly came alive and his constant assists on the wing finally paid off in a big way.

In the 79th minute, Li Liang passed the ball diagonally to Yang in time after the front cross-cut, and the latter used his speed to get rid of the defense and sent an inverted triangle return pass near the bottom line, and Lukaku pressed Maya Yoshida to shoot in front of the goal!

1:0！ Manchester United finally broke the deadlock after being passive at full-time!

The little monster, who equalled Saha's record for consecutive goals, was so excited that he desperately took off his shirt and celebrated wildly, and St Mary's Stadium was booed.

"Li—" Magic Bird shouted, and then clapped vigorously at Li Liang, who was huddled with his teammates.

The Saints immediately brought on high striker Austin and attacking midfielder Ward Prowse in an attempt to salvage the defeat, but the Reds held on to the lead until the end.

The game finally came to an end with the Red Devils taking a valuable three points away from home thanks to Romelu Lukaku's goal.

Gabidini and Li Liang shook hands and hugged: "You played really well, Lee!" Congratulations! ”

Maya Yoshida also said: "Lee, you will definitely become the starting XI for Manchester United!" ”

The crowd celebrating happily in the locker room suddenly fell silent, and Rojo held up his mobile phone and shouted to everyone: "...... Yes, 5 goals, they scored 5 at the Etihad! ”

Li Liang was surprised to learn that Manchester City continued its terrifying form by beating Crystal Palace 5-0 at home, thus continuing to dominate Manchester United with the same points in the standings, and further extending the lead.

Rojo continued: 'They were in big trouble though, Mendy was substituted in the first half with a serious injury and it will make it difficult for them on the left......

Li Liang was secretly surprised, and on the way back, he dialed the phone of his former teammate Mendy, and a frustrated voice came from the receiver: "...... The team doctor said it was probably a cruciate ligament and they had already arranged for me a specialist from Barcelona......

Good luck, Lee! ”

Anthony Martial sighed: "This is English football. ”

After returning to Manchester to recuperate, the squad flew to Moscow two days ahead of schedule to begin preparations for the Champions League group stage in midweek.