Chapter 319: The league continues, against the Saints!

The game of the national team did not have any impact on Li Zihan, in Hanniang's own words, it is time to eat and drink, and then adjust your body and wait for the league to blow again.

About 10 days later, the national team competition came to an end and the league was back in flames.

By the time the twelfth round of the league arrived, it was already the end of November, and the cold weather was gradually hitting, and a light rain began to fall over London.

England is a rainy place, London locals describe London as having only two seasons a year, one is the rainy season and the other is the non-rainy season, and the number of days in the rainy season reaches 300 to 320 days, and there are an average of more than a dozen rains per day, and each rain generally "lasts" for three minutes

And this league game is inevitably a rain battle! It's just that today's rain is as firm as eating a small blue pill, and it has been dripping and falling since noon, without the slightest tendency to stop.

Arsenal will face a rising Saints Southampton side this season, who surprisingly finished second in the table and beat all the Premier League giants. And this game, if Southampton beat a tired Arsenal who have already been tossed at the Emirates Stadium, then they could taste the top of the league for the first time.

Of course, the Saints have been able to perform so well and have played one game less than Manchester City and Chelsea, and if both teams win this replay, then the Saints may fall directly out of the top four.

Speaking of the Southampton team, their relationship with Arsenal is not ordinary, the relationship between the two sides is not bad, and Arsenal has also relied on the role of "big brother" to dig the corners of Southampton, basically digging very talented youth academy players.

For example, Arsene Wenger introduced England's future right-wing corridor to Walcott when he was only 17 years old, and five years later, another winger, teenager Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, also followed in the footsteps of his brother Walcott to the Emirates Stadium

Southampton were a little worried because they were afraid that youngster Luke Shaw or Academy Ward Prowse would attract Arsenal's attention too much, and Arsene Wenger would "graciously" invite them to stay after the game, and discuss the transfer of the player by the way.

It's not that a team like Southampton doesn't sell people, they just don't want to sell people cheaply. Although Arsenal has been a dick in recent years, it is still the best choice for young players to join. They are afraid that after such a lure from Arsenal, the young talent will be determined to join the club that is the cradle of such a famous young talent.

In fact, Southampton's directors have thought too much, and this season they have attracted a lot of attention from captain Lallana, full-back Luke Shaw and substitute midfielder Ward Prowse. And according to Arsenal's "tradition", once someone raises the price, they give it up decisively

And this league has also attracted a lot of attention from the Asian media, mainly because both sides have an Asian player, including Arsenal's talented striker Li Zihan and Southampton's Japanese midfielder Maya Yoshida.

Therefore, the Asian media reporters in this league are more active than the local media in England and Europe, but this time the Japanese media did not play any slogans such as "Asian Derby" that made Li Zihan sore for eggs.

It is estimated that the confrontation between Nagatomo Yudu, Ji Chengyong and others and Li Zihan and their performance has completely made the media in other countries learn to be obedient. Although in the previous game against Manchester United, Shinji Kagawa, who once had the status of the first brother of Asian football, defeated Arsenal. But Li Zihan didn't play in this game, let alone Li Zihan, Arsenal didn't even send 100% of the main force. Shinji Kagawa came off the bench in the second half, but the only goal had nothing to do with him.

Regardless of the reactions of all parties, the league started in a drizzle anyway.

Because considering the Champions League in the middle of next week, Wenger is still relatively strong in this league. The returning core of the national team was all on the bench in this game, while Theo Walcott, who is rumored to be a potential return from injury, was also on the bench in this game and did not appear in the starting line-up.

The main players in the starting line are Koscielny, Szczesny, Ramsey, Wilshere, and striker Li Zihan, who has no national team assignment and has plenty of rest during this time.

Veterans such as Rosicky and Arteta, who have not been called up for the international team for the time being, are also in the line-up.

And Southampton, who are not distracted by the Champions League and have few international players in the national team, will certainly not let go of this opportunity to reach the top of the league table. Including captain Lallana, Kenyan midfielder Wanyama, who only joined from the Scottish Premiership this summer, and French midfielder Schneiderlin as a double midfielder, the experienced Lambert is the main force!

Speaking of French midfielder Schneiderlin, there were scandals with Arsenal at the beginning of this summer's transfer period, and there is news in the media that Wenger has always wanted an excellent midfielder to make up for his midfield strength and the embarrassment of "lumbar muscle strain", and Southampton's excellent midfielder Schneidlin is the best choice, and he is also French, everyone knows that Wenger has a special preference for French players.

But the transfer deal eventually fell through, and then Wenger recruited the veteran Flamini from AC Milan, the most important thing is that Flamini is also French, and Flamini has played for four seasons, and has made more than 20 appearances in each season, so it will not take much time for him to integrate into the team after joining the team. In addition to the above advantages, the biggest point is that it is indeed free!! Joined Arsenal as a free agent.

However, in Li Zihan's opinion, his old teammate is also wonderful. At that time, the transfer from Marseille to Arsenal was a free agent transfer, and Arsenal's transfer to AC Milan was also considered a free agent, and now returning to Arsenal from AC Milan is still a free agent

In this comparison, the free signing of Flamini and Southampton offered more than 15 million pounds, which is about 20 million euros for Schneiderlin. Arsenal, which has always advocated the concept of "affordability", finally signed Flamini, who did not need to spend a single transfer fee, and in order to return to Arsenal, Flamini was willing to take the initiative to reduce his salary

In any case, the two teams that were "entangled" finally met.

Suppressed by the boos of the home fans, Southampton did not blindly push forward to attack. It's a smart retreat across the board, a defensive counterattack. The front court left an Argentine center Osvaldo, who joined the Saints from Serie A Red Wolves Roma for more than 15 million this summer, and even Lambert and Lallana returned to their own half.

Li Zihan dribbled the ball in the front court, and a feint shook off Ward Prowse, although Prowse is talented, but after all, the young, ninety-four-year-old England talented midfielder is too inexperienced in the game. On the other hand, Li Zihan opposite him, although he is only one year older than Prowse, but from Serie A to the Premier League, from the league to the Champions League, Li Zihan has played many games in the past year, and the giants he has encountered cannot be counted on one hand.

So where is Prowse Li Zihan's opponent, the flexible Li Zihan easily shook off the joint defensive area of Lallana and Ward Prowse.

And the African midfielder who joined from Scottish supergiants Celtic is not a young lad like Prowse, although he is only 22 years old this year.

As soon as Li Zihan broke through Prowse and planned to pass the ball to Cazorla, but Yu Guang aimed at a black shadow on his side, Li Zihan didn't have time to react, and the other party began to grab the ball frantically.

Li Zihan half-turned, dodged the opponent's first steal, and then handed the ball to Wilshere, who stepped forward to answer.

As soon as the ball was handed over, Li Zihan was tripped by the defender behind him.

Glancing at the player on the ground, Li Zihan's first reaction was black, the second reaction was still black, and the third reaction was still black

Kenya's Wan Yama is originally a black African, and the color of his skin is naturally not white. The Saints Southampton's main colour red clash with the home team's home red, so they opted for the away kit with the biggest colour difference - the black kit.

The black jersey matches the black skin tone, if it weren't for the headlights of the stadium that are bright enough now, Li Zihan still has to wonder if he will be able to see others after meeting him at night?

What impressed Li Zihan was that Wan Yama, including the socks, was black, but his sneakers were "eye-catching" pink

Hell, pink is Li Zihan's least favorite eye color, especially on the court

When I think of such a big and three thick man, wearing pink shoes, he is either infinitely affectionate or particularly sullen

The referee gave Arsenal a free kick in front, but the goal was too far away from the goal, and Li Zihan, who had already secured Arsenal's first free kick penalty taker, chose a free kick combination.

The big foot drove into the box and found the head of centre-back Vermaelen, but Croatian centre-back Lovren interfered with the header and the ball flew high over the crossbar.

Vermaelen gave a thumbs up while trotting back to the defense, indicating that Li Zihan's pass was beautiful.

Southampton, who were playing away later, began to counter-attack, only to concede a goal in front of Arsenal due to the quality of their midfield.

Although Vermaelen's defense still has holes, Southampton also saw this "weakness" of Arsenal, but Arteta performed well today, and the vice-captain took the initiative to drop back to help the captain defend, which made Lallana's attack a little weak.

However, at the beginning of the season, Arsenal's captain and vice-captain did not perform very well, not to mention the performance of the captain Belgian central defender Vermaelen, who has conceded 50% of the total goals conceded from his side so far this season

Although the performance of the vice-captain Arteta is decent, it is obviously not as good as last season, and the cooperation with the team's frontcourt players is not very tacit, and the defense is often wrong.

It is estimated that it is also because the frontcourt is now centered on the newly recruited Li Zihan and Ozil, Arteta is still a little rusty, but the mistakes and flaws in the defense are real.

This can be seen from the fact that Ramsey and Flamini have gradually settled into the main midfield partnership.