Chapter 386: Vera with a psychological advantage

Many fans still like the Premier League's No. 1 strange owner, because apart from the joy he often brings to his strange appearance, his team does not pose much of a threat to his own team.

Oh, only Cardiff City fans probably don't think so.

Farewell to the good guy Chen Zhiyuan and his club who bring joy for the time being, although the transfer scandal is flying all over the sky, but the game still has to go on.

The league has reached its twenty-first round, and the other eighteen teams have already finished their matches in this round, and Arsenal's is a little late. There is no so-called strong dialogue in this round, and several big and strong teams are all weak teams. Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool all won the three points.

There was nothing surprising about these nine games, only Liverpool's 5-3 win at Stoke City was hearty. While the Red Army's offensive power was affirmed, its defensive shortcomings were also completely exposed. There are no more than three teams in the Premier League who can score three goals in the current Sky City, and now the mighty Liverpool have become one of them.

There is also a good game for Sunderland to take on their relegation rivals, Fulham, in London. With Li Zihan's friend Giaccherini's brace and passing assist O'Shea, and Giaccherini's fellow Italian striker Borini was the icing on the cake. In the end, the Black Cats beat their relegation opponents 4-1 on the road, and Giaccherini was voted the best player of the match.

In order to congratulate his friend, Li Zihan specially called Giackelini that night and invited him to have a meal with him. During the banquet, Giaccherini joked that he had known Li Zihan for so long, and this was the first time he had eaten the meal he invited, and Li Zihan's face was a little hot.

The two exchanged pleasantries again, and then the two said goodbye in an atmosphere of joy for the host and guest.

At 8 p.m. local time on January 12 in England, this league game came a little late for Arsenal. Because they are the last game of the round, nine of the other eighteen teams have already been played yesterday and the day before yesterday.

This round of opponents is special for Arsenal, who will travel to Birmingham's famous Villa Park stadium to face Aston Villa, a traditional side of the Premier League.

Aston Villa are not a strong opponent in the Premier League right now, they can only be regarded as mid-table. There is no hope of European competition, relegation is worry-free, of course, if there are some accidents, it is still easy to fall into the quagmire of relegation.

And for Arsenal, this game is quite important. Because in the first round of the season, Arsenal's first league game of the season. It was at the Emirates Stadium against Aston Villa, and at that time, it cost 70 million euros because of the introduction of talented players such as Li Zihan and Ozil. Arsenal fans are just seeing the light of day and are hoping to make a difference in the new season instead of being a "race for four" or a "fourth place contractor".

And it was in such a home atmosphere that Aston Villa, who was sitting away, immediately poured cold water on Arsenal. It was 3-1 and a big win over Arsenal. While giving Arsenal a slap in the face, they also won a big victory, taking the first three points of the new season that they all felt "unexpected".

And this account is for Aston Villa, and it has been waiting for today. Therefore, all the soldiers in the arsenal are real guns and nuclear bombs, and they are ready for battle, and they don't need Wenger to mobilize before the game.

Perhaps it was with these relationships in mind that the FA put this game at the end of the round and used it as the finale. Who called the previous Christmas war was already almost arranged for the strong dialogue, and there was no strong dialogue in this round, so I had to use this "grievance game" as the finale.

Compared with Arsenal's strict waiting, Aston Villa seems to be more relaxed. Head coach Paul Lambert, who only took over last season and played a full season in front of the team, said in his pre-match press conference: "We have a lot of experience against Arsenal, we beat Arsenal 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium in the last leg, so we are still confident of taking all three points in our Villa Park. ”

I don't know where the confidence of the young Scottish coach comes from, anyway, he said that even in the face of a leader team like Arsenal, he will not adopt conservative tactics, but will attack boldly.

Maybe it was the first-round victory that gave him a lot of psychological advantages, but he did have that advantage. Because after he became the manager of Aston Villa, he has won one win, drawn one and lost one of his three games against Arsenal. Only three goals were conceded in three games, but four goals were scored without falling behind

Such a comparison seems to make sense.

In this game, Aston Villa at home is the main force, Benteke, Weimann, Delph, Ahmadi, F. Lal and other players have appeared in the starting eleven list, but the striker Abang Lajo was injured in the last round of 1-1 and Sunderland's dull draw, and did not appear in the 18-man squad in this game.

The black cat, which is in dire need of points and relegation, has now opened the "relegation battle mode", so the scramble action in each game is very big. But they didn't expect that while they themselves were taking all three points, they were also helping other teams for the betterment.

Arsenal also wanted to put all their main players in the starting line-up, but had to face the reality of injuries. Needless to say, Mesut Ozil will need to recuperate for up to a month after his last injury, which is undoubtedly worse for Arsenal. Now Wenger is just hoping that Mesut Ozil can fully recover and stay in form before the Champions League is back in flames. Because their opponent in the first knockout round is the defending champion, a powerful alien team - Bayern Munich!

Perhaps for Gunners fans, Wilshere is recovering well and being on the bench today may bring some comfort to their injured hearts.

Despite the absence of Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott and other big players, the starting lineup led by Li Zihan is still not to be underestimated. The combination of Li Zihan, Aaron Ramsey, Podolski, Rosicky and others is also a behemoth for a team like Aston Villa.

It is worth mentioning that at the back, Arsene Wenger did not start all of his main players. Recently, the young youngster Gibbs, who has been sitting at Arsenal's main left wing-back, has been replaced by the experienced Spaniard Monreal, while the black French right back Sagna, who has been thundered on the right, has been on the bench, but has given the young players some opportunities, and the academy youngster Jenkinson has come on. In terms of central defenders, German Mederssat got a chance to rest, after all, such a tight schedule and high-intensity games are impossible for most people not to rest, and the Iron Guard does not mean a defender made of steel. Arsenal captain Belgian Vermaelen has once again been offered a place at centre-back and will be partnered by French centre-back José Koscielny.

Everyone is optimistic about Arsenal in this game, in addition to the disparity in strength between the two sides, and Arsenal's desire to avenge the revenge at the beginning of the season and the absence of Aston Villa big man Abonlaho are also the reasons why everyone is optimistic about Arsenal.

And the rhythm after the start of this game is as fans think, Aston Villa, who insisted on attacking Arsenal in a high-profile manner before the game, is estimated to have gone on vacation, and the Aston Villa who is now playing against Arsenal on the field is playing a standard defensive counterattack.

However, this is not surprising, and fools know what it takes to play against Arsenal. So when Aston Villa manager Lambert said he was going to attack, everyone knew that this guy was setting off a smoke bomb.

Even Manchester City's offensive power of more than 100 million pounds can be compared to Arsenal, which scumbag is Aston Villa, who is less than five in comparison?

So the fans were not surprised by Aston Villa's defensive tactics at all. Even though it's their home turf.

The home fans were not demanding, and they didn't get carried away because they beat Arsenal in the first leg, but they had a good mentality and a good position.

When the team shrunk down to the 40-yard zone, the home crowd didn't boo. And when the layers of blockade made Arsenal's attack futile, the home fans also let out enthusiastic cheers. Obviously, they are happy with the attitude of the team.

Under the strict watch of Aston Villa, Li Zihan did not get too many opportunities. The other party is like a swarm of worker ants, encircling their queen ant, the goal, in an encirclement.

Arsenal, who couldn't open up the situation, began to slowly try to shoot from distance, and Ramsey was the player with the most chances at the moment. Even Flamini often shoots from distance, but unfortunately vice-captain Mikel Arteta was rested for this game, otherwise his long-range shot would have been good. French midfielder Flamini is more adept at cutting in from behind and rushing into the penalty area, receiving passes from teammates or heading or using his feet to score goals.

The game continued until the thirtieth minute of the first half, and the score was still 0-0. Aston Villa's defense made Arsenal helpless, and the long-range shot failed to open the situation, because Aston Villa, who had a double-back lineup, also defended the opponent's long-range shot very well, and the control of the front position of the penalty area was not looser than that in the penalty area.

It looked like Paul Lambert had put a lot of effort into Arsenal before the game, not only limiting the most dangerous players up front, Li Zihan and Cazorla, but also blocking the midfielder Ramsey, who had a long-range shot and often opened up for the team.

Eight minutes later, in the 38th minute of the game, the scene finally changed.