The Premier League does not have a winter break like the major European leagues, but instead it has entered a dense schedule while others enjoy the Christmas and New Year holidays.

In fact, this has a lot to do with the commercial development of the Premier League. The Premier League is better commercialized than any of the other major leagues, and their broadcast costs are much higher than those of the other major leagues.

During the Christmas holidays, fans are resting at home, and in the eyes of the FA and TV broadcasters, it would be a huge waste if the Premier League was also suspended during this time. And if the game is played as usual during this time, whether it is broadcast or the live ball market, it will be very hot.

In this way, the Premier League has become a league without a winter break!

Tottenham's schedule was packed during the winter break, with a crazy six games to play in less than 20 days, including four league games, an FA Cup and a League Cup.

It will undoubtedly be a huge test for Tottenham.

First of all, Tottenham Hotspur will face the 19th round of the league, and this game will be against Manchester City.

In England, it's just a very ordinary league game, but across the ocean in China, this game is even more closely watched than the north London derby in some ways.

The reason is simple, Manchester City have Chinese player Sun Hai in their squad.

Therefore, very early on, China has begun to hype this "Chinese derby".

Compared with the "derby" between Chen Xi and Li Tie last time, this time, the dialogue between Chen Xi and Sun Hai has obviously attracted more attention!

First of all, Sun Hai's popularity in China is much higher than that of Li Tie. So, the fans are paying more attention to him.

Secondly, when he had that conversation with Li Tie, Chen Xi was just a fledgling, but now Chen Xi has become the hottest superstar in the Premier League. In China, Chen Xi's die-hard fans are also growing rapidly like a snowball.

Chen Xi's fans call themselves "porridge", and in the case of the poor environment of Chinese football, Chen Xi is also the biggest spiritual sustenance of Chinese fans. Although he is not a Chinese national, he, a descendant of Yan and Huang with red roots, still easily captured the hearts of fans.

Finally, the position of Chen Xi and Sun Hai also means that this "derby" will be more thorough.

Chen Xi played at Tottenham at left-back, while Sun Hai was at right-back for Manchester City. In other words, in this game, as long as both of them are on the court, there will be a lot of direct dialogue between each other.

In this case, the mood of Chinese fans is also very complicated. They hope that Chen Xi can continue to be as brave and unstoppable as before. But they don't want to see Sun Hai, as a Chinese player, lose too ugly in this game.

Some Sun Hai fans even hope that Sun Hai can keep an eye on Chen Xi in this game, so that he can become famous and go to a better stage!

In any case, this "China Derby" has already been hyped up in China.

During this time, many Chinese sports reporters also flew to Manchester to prepare a detailed report on the game.

Chen Xi has no way of knowing the situation in China, but after knowing that the opponent is Manchester City, he can somewhat imagine this kind of scene. After all, before the crossing, he was not less "edified" by the Chinese media.

For Sun Hai, Chen Xi's impression is also good!

Chen Xi vaguely remembers that Sun Hai seems to have been at Manchester City for many seasons and has a high status in the hearts of Manchester City fans.

This is absolutely commendable for a Chinese player, and "China Sun" is the most successful of the Chinese players who have stayed abroad.

At the same time, Sun Hai's surname is also very much in line with Chen Xi's appetite.

Before the 02 World Cup, Chen Xi was still a die-hard fan, and he had been paying attention to the Chinese team's journey to the World Cup.

He remembers that at that time, Sun Hai seemed to be at odds with coach Milu, and in the top ten, when the Chinese team launched the final attack on the World Cup, he was repeatedly excluded from the national team list by Milu.

At that time, many people persuaded Sun Hai to swallow his anger and let him apologize to Milu.

Sun Hai insisted that he was right, so he kept biting his breath!

It is not difficult to find from this that Sun Hai is different from those national football players who spend their best to please coaches and Football Association officials, and even pay money directly for gifts.

In the end, the Chinese team rushed into the World Cup, and Sun Hai and Milu laughed at the wedding of their teammate Li Min under the mediation of many parties, allowing Sun Hai, China's No. 1 right-back, to embark on the last train of the World Cup.

In Chen Xi's view, if he were himself, he would also adhere to his own principles and would not compromise on his part.

Chen Xi was also very excited to be able to speak directly with Sun Hai, who is China's No. 1 right-back, in the game. After all, this is also the best way for him to understand the gap between himself and Chinese football.

In other words, in this game, Chen Xi will not make reservations for the sake of his compatriots, but will do his best. Let those guys from the Chinese Football Association really understand the gap between Chinese football and the world level! ――

While the Chinese media are frantically covering this game, the British media are also digging hard to find highlights from this game.

In this round of the game, there is no strong dialogue. Therefore, Tottenham, as the leader, is naturally the subject of media coverage.

After playing this round of games, the Premier League is officially halfway through this season.

In other words, after this round of matches, the halfway champion of the Premier League will be born!

From now on, as long as Tottenham win Manchester City and Manchester United don't beat Blackburn Rovers by a big score, Tottenham will be at the top of the halfway table.

Although there is no trophy or prize money for winning the half-marathon. But a great New Year's gift for any team!

Therefore, the biggest attraction of this game is naturally whether Manchester City can stop Tottenham.

Manchester City, as a promoted horse, have performed very well this season, and now they are in the middle of the table and do not need to fight for relegation.

There is no shortage of stars like Nicolas Anelka, Fowler and Kasper Schmeichel in the squad!

Their quality is not bad, and they are playing at home, so in the eyes of the media, there is still a certain possibility of stopping Tottenham.

In addition to this highlight, the British media, like the Chinese media, also mentioned the dialogue between Chen Xi and Sun Jihai, but in the UK, this is called the "Chinese Derby".

Because with Chen Xi's more and more outstanding performance, more and more Britons regard him as their own. Therefore, they value Chen Xi's British-Chinese identity more, and they will only call Chen Xi Chinese, not Chinese!

In such a dialogue, the media is overwhelmingly optimistic about Chen Xi.

They don't think that Chen Xi, who Britain's best centre-back Campbell can't watch, will be watched by a Chinese right-back.

So, for this highlight, they only mentioned it slightly!

Compared with the so-called "Chinese Derby", the British media pays more attention to the dialogue between the managers of the two teams!

Manchester City are coached by England legend Kevin Keegan. He was the head coach of the England national team before becoming Manchester City manager. And at that time, he was the handsome seal that he took over from Hoddle.

In other words, this game is also a direct dialogue between the two former England national team managers!

This is clearly more to the taste of the British.

In an interview, Keegan publicly expressed his admiration for Hoddle. Keegan said he thought it was unfair for Hoddle to be dismissed by the FA for indiscretion after the 1998 World Cup, even though he came to the role after Hoddle was sacked.

Keegan said he wasn't good enough to be England manager at the time, but Hoddle was more than up to the job, "I certainly understand how the decision was made, and even Glenn [Hoddle] may have realised he made a mistake, but in a footballing sense, it's a very difficult decision to accept. He did a good job as England manager and didn't seem to deserve to be ousted because of that statement. ”

Clearly, Keegan wanted to use the killing tactics to lower Hoddle's vigilance. It's a psychological battle staged by the legendary superstar!

Hoddle didn't care about this, he obviously knew that this was the opponent's psychological tactic, so in an interview, he was also rarely humble: "At that time, I did make some low-level mistakes. I also have nothing to say about that class. And Kevin [Keegan] did a great job after he took over from me. He should have been doing it longer! Of course, he may have more opportunities to show his talents at the club! ”

When asked about the game, the two managers also looked humble.

Keegan said: "Tottenham have been very strong this season, they are league leaders and we are only promoted horses. Although we are in a good position now, our goal this season will still be to avoid relegation! In this game, if we can get a draw, we will all be very happy! ”

Hoddle also praised his opponents: "Manchester City have been very good this season. As promoted horses, they have achieved extraordinary results. This has a lot to do with Keegan's excellent command. They may be able to aim higher, such as attacking Europe. It's going to be a tough game in Manchester! We can only go for the victory, because our goal is the halfway victory! ”

The harmony before the game seems to have made this game a lot less interesting. However, when it comes to the field, the players on both sides will inevitably fight each other in real time. So, the fans are still looking forward to this match......

(To be continued)