After the big win in the English derby against Manchester United, Chen Xi and his teammates could clearly feel that the resistance they encountered in the coming league games had increased a lot.

No, in the thirteenth round of the league, when facing Middlesbrough away, the Liverpool team encountered stubborn resistance.

Middlesbrough set up a bucket formation almost from the first minute, and although it is not exaggerated to the point of 100 tactics, their midfield is often only filled with two or three players, with the rest of the players almost all in and out of the box.

No matter how much the Liverpool team lures them, they are like a turtle that shrinks into their shell and does not come out.

That is, the attack power of the Liverpool team is very strong, but there are not many ways to face the hard turtle shell of the Middlesbrough team.

Originally, Chen Xi was a sharp weapon to break through dense defense, but he was accompanied by at least two or three defenders throughout the game, and the space around him was also compressed very small, which greatly affected Chen Xi's performance.

As a master tactician, Benitez doesn't have much to do with such a dense defense. In fact, breaking down dense defenses can be a problem even for the top big teams.

As the clock ticked by, the game inside the Riverside Stadium was boring enough to fall asleep, but the Middlesbrough fans were thrilled. Because in their opinion, it is a great achievement to be able to get a point against Liverpool. You must know that so far in the league, it is only Arsenal and Portsmouth that have been able to do this.

Now that Middlesbrough are on the brink of the relegation zone, this point is extremely important for them.

In addition to the Middlesbrough supporters, Arsenal supporters behind Liverpool will also hope that Liverpool will make mistakes, as Arsenal have already led the road by three goals and will have no problem winning that game. In this way, they were able to close the gap to two points once again. The difference between two points and four points is much more expected, after all, the difference of two points is enough to form a comeback through one game, but four points also score at least two games.

The course of the game is also moving towards their ideas, and Liverpool's attack is still unable to find a solution.

More often than not, the Liverpool team can only attack through blind kicks and long-range shots from two wings, but it is a pity that although Heskey is physically outstanding, it is obviously unrealistic to ask this center forward, who is known as the most non-scoring center in the history of the England national team, to carry the team's attacking banner.

Returning again and again to no avail, the Liverpool team became more and more impatient, and the team's formation was pressed more and more high.

In the 78th minute of the game, Middlesbrough almost broke the Liverpool goal with a long counter-attack. Their forwards were already one-on-one, but Dudek made a brave save to keep the goal intact.

It was a much regrettable goal for the home fans at Riverside Stadium, who believed that if it had been scored, their side would have beaten Liverpool for the first time this season. For Middlesbrough, who have not received much media attention, this is a great opportunity to show their faces across the country and across Europe!

Some Arsenal fans who are following this game are even eager to borrow a few good strikers for Middlesbrough.

The so-called catastrophe does not die, there will be blessings! After the Liverpool team escaped, they ushered in the aftermath!

At that time, the game had reached the eighty-fifth minute, and Chen Xi and his teammates finally got rid of the two defenders who were sticking to him after making a two-one-one combination.

However, when he hit the edge of the box, it was densely packed, and it was difficult to find space for either shooting or passing.

Chen Xi, who finally got rid of the defense once, was already holding his breath, so this time he didn't bother to think about it, and directly picked up his right foot and slammed it towards the goal!

Chen Xi's shot was not blind, he saw the far corner of the goal through a small gap, so he aimed there to hit.

However, the defenders of the Middlesbrough team blocked it in time, and their central defenders subconsciously stretched out their feet to block it, which made Chen Xi's ball refract!

This refraction caused the ball that had been flying towards the goal to deviate from the track, and it looked like it was about to go out of the goal. However, his refraction did not slow down Chen Xi's powerful shot, so when the ball deflected and flew towards another Middlesbrough defender, he had no time to dodge.

In this way, the ball ghost refracted again and turned back in the direction of the goal.

A series of refractions had already made the goalkeeper of the Middlesbrough team dizzy, and his center of gravity had already been cheap when Chen Xi took the first shot, and it was too late to make a second reaction at this time, so he could only watch the ball fly into the near corner of the goal.

The goal plunged Riverside Stadium into a dead silence.

After holding on for more than 80 minutes without conceding a goal, the deadlock was broken in the final minutes, a late suspense that was clearly unacceptable to the Middlesbrough fans at home.

The Middlesbrough players also sat on their own pitches decadently, especially the two Middlesbrough defenders who Chen Xi shot at goal. The previous desire to draw the leaders supported their tenacious struggle, but this goal completely broke their fighting spirit.

And Chen Xi and his teammates can celebrate to their heart's content, and the depression that has accumulated for more than 80 minutes can finally be vented at this time.

Chen Xi still did not forget to provoke the Middlesbrough fans who had booed Liverpool many times before, and he put his index finger in front of his mouth and signaled them to shut up.

The Middlesbrough fans, who had been hit by the huge blow, were not even in the mood to fight back against Chen Xi, as if they were responding to Chen Xi, and closed their mouths. Only a few fans gave an angry riposte.

It seems that Chen Xi's goal could not help but crush the Middlesbrough players, and at the same time broke the hearts of their supporters.

After the resumption of the game, Middlesbrough tried to launch a counter-attack. However, after defending for more than 80 minutes, it was obviously difficult for them to find their attacking rhythm for a while, and they had a big gap in strength with the Liverpool team, which made them only 0-1 in the end.

After the game, Benitez, who got the three points, was not happy. Because he seems to see how the opponent will face his team in the next game.

It's not hard to imagine situations like today's that Liverpool will be frequented in the coming seasons. Chen Xi's goal today has a lot of luck, and no one dares to guarantee that the Liverpool team can have such good luck every time.

Indeed, although Middlesbrough ultimately lost the game, their tactics for the first 85 minutes were very successful. This has also led some mid-to-lower teams to decide to follow suit.

Birmingham City, opponents in the 14th round of the league, are also a mid-table team, and they will undoubtedly aim for a point away at Anfield!

Prior to this, Liverpool ushered in the penultimate game of the Champions League group stage, against the bottom of the group.

In this game, Benitez also hid several main players, even so, the home team Liverpool still won easily 2-0, and in the final round of the group stage, as long as they can draw with AC Milan, they can lock up the first place in the group.

This also allows Benitez to focus on the league for the time being.

At Anfield on November 30, the Birmingham team really put on a bucket formation.

However, at Anfield, the Liverpool fans would not allow such a thing to happen, and their boos caused a lot of disturbance to the players of the Birmingham team.

Anfield is one of England's most terrifying home stadiums, with 50,000 or 60,000 fans booing in unison than the average player can withstand.

When have players in a small team like Birmingham seen such a big scene?

Chen Xi and his teammates also looked more combative at home, and Liverpool broke Birmingham's iron bucket formation in the first half.

Chen Xi attracted the defense on the left side and knocked the ball to the middle, Gerrard broke through with the ball and knocked the ball again, and Xavi Alonso, who was inserted in the back, staged a heavy bombardment of the goal, and the ball hung in the upper right corner of the goal, rewriting the score to 1-0.

After encountering the bucket formation, once the goal is scored, the game will be much better.

And the Birmingham team's pre-game deployment was obviously also completely broken, they can only strengthen the attack in the second half, after all, for them, a loss is also a loss, it is better to gamble, maybe even equalize.

Well, for Liverpool, he likes this kind of team that likes to gamble, which means they have more opportunities!

No, less than ten minutes into the second half, Liverpool scored their second goal, this time by Owen. His pace was on full display on the counter-attack, and he also looked very calm in front of goal, facing the goalkeeper in one fell swoop.

2-0, Liverpool gave Birmingham City, who were trying to hold on to a point, taste the consequences.

Of course, Liverpool are not going to stop their attacking pace. They want to use the game to make a name for themselves, telling teams who want to use a bucket against Liverpool that it's best to dispel that idea.

In the 68th minute, Xavi Alonso broke the ball at the back and made a long pass directly to the left.

Chen Xi plugged in at high speed, and after receiving the ball, he went directly into the penalty area, and after attracting the supplementary defense, he knocked the ball across the middle, and Heskey outflanked it in place and pushed it into the hand. 3 to 0.

Eight minutes later, Liverpool were back in the picture.

In a counterattack, Chen Xi dribbled the ball along the left side at high speed, and when advancing to a position parallel to the penalty line, Chen Xi suddenly rubbed the ball up with the outside of his right foot. The ball flew directly into the right rib of the penalty area!

Luis Garcia, who started in place of Mitchell today, was on the path of the ball and the Spaniard did not stop the ball and volleyed it into the corner. 4 to 0.

It was a brilliant goal that blew up the atmosphere at Anfield and Luis Garcia, who had been a substitute for more of the season, finally showed his face in front of the home fans. Therefore, he also expressed his gratitude to Chen Xi, who gave him a wonderful assist.

The four-goal lead still did not discourage the Liverpool players from continuing to attack, but instead aroused the bloodthirsty factor in the players' hearts. Everyone is brewing a massacre!

In the 82nd minute, Chen Xi accurately found the left-back Riser in the penalty area with a long-distance free kick on the right side of the front, and the tall Norwegian smashed the ball directly into the goal. 5 to 0.

With the fifth ball, the sixth ball is not far off!

When the game was about to go to injury time, Gerrard broke the ball in the middle of the field and directly distributed the ball to Chen Xi on the left!

Chen Xi, who only cared about creating opportunities for his teammates before, decided to come by himself this time!

He used his speed along the flanks to force a way away from the opposition left-back, and then dribbled into the box.

Chen Xi's teammates also stepped in one after another to receive Chen Xi's assist, and they also opened a lot of defenses for Chen Xi!

Facing the back waist that came to make up for the defense, Chen Xi stepped on the bicycle continuously, and then directly moved horizontally towards the penalty area, and then rubbed a wonderful arc with his right foot!

The ball flew in the air around the defenders, around the fingertips of the goalkeeper who flew towards him, and grazed the inside of the post and into the goal!

This goal brought the atmosphere at Anfield Stadium to its best, and the fans once again cheered "King Edison"!

The score also became 6-0, and a massacre was born!

This game will be an attempt to take on Liverpool with a bucket formation, and the Birmingham side who want to take a point away from Anfield Stadium have suffered a big deflate. One by one, they left the pitch and returned to the dressing room.

Chen Xi and his teammates can celebrate a big victory, and at the same time, they also use this big victory to remind those teams who are trying to use the iron bucket formation and stubborn defense against Liverpool, you should dispel this idea as soon as possible!

After this game, the Liverpool team also got a good news, Arsenal team was forced to draw 0-0 at home, so that the lead of the Liverpool team reached six points, which can be said to be the top of the standings!

(To be continued)