Sometimes the more you are afraid of something, the more you come.

Pogba had already suffered a minor injury when he returned from the national team, although not very serious and will soon be back in action, but he will definitely miss Manchester United's game against Liverpool and possibly Chelsea in the ninth round.

Needless to say against Liverpool, Mourinho didn't want to lose against Chelsea.

Pogba is now playing an increasingly important role in United's midfield and his absence will have a big impact on United's midfield.

Moreover, Liverpool is an attacking team, and it is like playing chicken blood when facing strong teams.

Last season, for example, Liverpool won 16, drew 12 and lost 10, and in the ten games they lost, except for two games that were beaten by Manchester United, the others were lost to some bottom-ranked teams, such as West Ham United, Crystal Palace, Newcastle, Watford and so on. The record of eight games against Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur is three wins, five draws and no defeat.

This season, they have already beaten Arsenal and Chelsea before the game against Manchester United, and also drew with Tottenham, although they lost to Burnley, they still have a record of five wins, one draw and one loss.

Therefore, in this game against Liverpool, Manchester United cannot take it lightly, otherwise it will become the next target of Liverpool's "robbing the rich and helping the poor".

While Mourinho secretly cursed the French coach Didier Deschamps in his heart, he could only find a way to deal with this away game first.

At home, Liverpool is bound to attack, and on Manchester United's side, due to the damage to the strength of the middle, if you attack against Liverpool, although Shen Peng can become a sharp weapon, the risk is still too great.

In the end, Mourinho chose the more secure approach - defensive counter-attack.

Jose Mourinho is known for his counter-attacking tactics and this is the first time he has been prepared to use this tactic since arriving at Manchester United.

If he changes to a strong team, he may not do it yet, and will continue to hone the team's attacking routines, but the "double red meeting" with Liverpool is a game that cannot be lost.

After the decision is made, it is time to arrange the specific tactical personnel.

Defensive counterattack, there is defense and counterattack, counterattack this point, there is no doubt that Shen Peng to complete, Shen Peng's speed and sharp breakthrough, in the defensive counterattack tactics, will definitely become the opponent's most headache factor.

And how to defend Liverpool's attack is a problem he needs to consider now.

……

On October 17, in the eighth round of the Premier League, Manchester United challenged Liverpool away.

When seeing Manchester United's defensive counterattack lineup, many media exclaimed that the former Mourinho is back!

Ibrahimovic didn't play in this game, he is not very useful on the counter-attack now, just to give him a break and try his best to deal with the rest of the game.

In addition to Shen Peng, among the other players, Mata is also a counterattack point, and the remaining nine people have to defend with all their might.

Tuchel was also a little surprised to see Mourinho's line-up, and he really didn't expect Mourinho to play a counter-attack in this game, but according to Mourinho's football philosophy of seeking results, it seems to be a matter of course.

However, they are not afraid to counter-attack, and he is confident that he can score ahead of Manchester United and then take the absolute initiative.

As for Shen Peng...... He will not underestimate it at all, the previous games have proved Shen Peng's value, his value is comparable to all the players in many clubs, and if he is not careful, he will probably be planted in Shen Peng's hands.

Since the home team shirts of both teams are red, the away shirt worn by Manchester United in this game is dark blue with a red edge.

Once the game began, the battle was indeed overwhelming the United half, but the United defence was solid.

Until the 20th minute, there were not many good chances on either side, and there were not even a few shots on goal.

Shen Peng also felt Liverpool's terrifying attack, and he struggled to assist the defense, as he was able to beat Chelsea and Arsenal before and draw with Tottenham.

And he himself didn't get any good counter-attacking opportunities, although there were a few times in front of him, but the Liverpool players followed him closely, so he didn't have any good opportunities to accelerate and break through.

At this time, Liverpool organized an attack in the front, Coutinho passed to Sturridge with a straight kick, Sturridge received the ball in a good position, after receiving the ball, he suddenly shot with his feet, and the ball flew directly to the upper right corner of the goal!

It was a tricky shot, but De Gea was in good form and he leaped and slapped the ball out with one hand.

The ball fell to the feet of Smalling, Smalling looked at the front, and without hesitation, he got up directly, and the ball crossed an arc in the air and fell to the feet of Shen Peng, who was waiting for an opportunity in the midfield!

Liverpool's Shen Peng attaches great importance to it, so even when they are attacking, there are players who have been staring at Shen Peng, sometimes Henderson, sometimes Klein, just to prevent Shen Peng's sudden attack at this time.

When Shen Peng turned around to receive the ball, he felt a push coming from his back, and he didn't have to think about it, this was the opponent's defender.

Since this is a relatively high pass, it is more difficult for him to pick the ball and pass people, and now many people will barb to defend his Sintan to get a spin, so if he uses this trick again, even if he passes the opponent, it will delay time, which is a taboo for defensive counterattacks.

And now he is facing away from the opponent, and many passing skills can't be used, so after observing the situation on the field, he directly got up and razored the ball!

The target of the pass was Mata, who was cutting forward quickly on the other side!

Originally, if he wanted to pass the ball directly, with his current skills, he could pass to Mata's feet without deviation, but the razor's pass can make Mata more comfortable when holding the ball, which can save him a little time to adjust the ball.

At this time, a fraction of a second may be able to determine whether the ball can be scored or not.

Sure enough, after Mata got the ball, he took the ball forward without pause, and even Milner, who had been chasing him behind him, was secretly frightened, and he could naturally see that this was the high quality of Shen Peng's pass, not Mata's stopping skills.

Shen Peng's pass is terrible!

He was following Mata closely, who wasn't fast enough to shake him off, and he was stuck inside to keep Mata from cutting in, and just like that, the two ran together from midfield back to Liverpool's penalty line.

Mata also knew the other party's purpose, but he had no intention of cutting in at all, only to see him suddenly stop with his left foot, and his right foot directly kicked up, crossing!