A day later, the 17th round of the Premier League was over, and Liverpool's "upset" loss to Villa at home became the biggest focus of this round of games.

Those who think Liverpool's loss to Villa is an upset are based on memory impressions.

In fact, Villa are now well placed in the standings than Liverpool.

Villa, who are unbeaten in 14 rounds, are currently ranked 5th, and if it weren't for their excessive draws, they could have gone up the rankings.

Of course, Villa have conceded the fewest goals of any team in the Premier League so far, and if this trend continues, Villa may have a chance to break Jose Mourinho's record of conceding just 15 goals in a single season.

As a result, Villa players are starting to enter the list of other clubs, not to mention Benteke, with Clark, Vlaar and even Lehigh all eyeing them.

Villa is getting better and better, there's no doubt about it.

On the other hand, Liverpool, under the leadership of Rodgers, is now ranked 11th, which is already in the bottom half of the Premier League.

Jose has finally understood that it is not easy to compete for the Premier League title, in addition to not conceding goals, but also scoring goals.

Maybe that's why those offensive players are in the spotlight.

"One day, I'm going to change that." José's heart was full of fighting spirit.

After the match with Liverpool, there was also a small episode, Gerrard personally approached Jose, first congratulated Jose on his performance, and then tactfully asked Jose if he was interested in joining the England national team.

José didn't agree, and certainly didn't block the possibility.

For such a big thing, José needs to think deeply before making a decision. After all, joining other countries' football teams means giving up Chinese nationality, which is what Jose is most reluctant to do.

…

Equally surprising was the fact that Chelsea were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Southampton and Rafael Benitez has yet to win a game since taking charge.

It seems that the coach can't be changed casually.

The game was a thrilling affair, with Demba Ba and Eden Hazard opening the scoring shortly after the break, but Southampton's Lambert and Panceon equalised in quick succession.

Chelsea's recent poor form is a good thing for Villa, who are coming up against them?

If Chelsea are pulled down again at the weekend, won't Villa complete their unbeaten run against the Big Six giants in the middle of the game? There are many people who think this way.

As Villa's results got better and better, the confidence of the team began to grow, and even faintly began to be a little arrogant.

At some point, a voice quietly came from the team: Lambert should not continue to play defensive counter-attacks, the players should take the ball more and press the formation out, and the reason why Villa have drawn so many is because the formation is too far back.

Lambert was noncommittal about this sound.

……

December 23rd.

4 p.m. local time.

Stamford Bridge.

In the last game of the 18th round of the English Premier League, Villa challenged Chelsea away and officially started.

United's draw away at Swansea City was the only upset before the game, so neutral fans were all focused on this game and hoping for a shock win over Chelsea.

Jose was not included in the squad due to the recusal clause, but he was still with the squad at Stamford Bridge.

Thinking that this place will become his home in the future, Jose has an indescribable feeling.

Paul Lambert put on a 352 formation, which was as aggressive as they had hoped.

Starting goalkeeper: Guzan.

The back three are: Nathan Baker, Carrak, Hurd.

The five midfielders are: Holman , Lehi, Lowton, Westwood, Bannan.

The two strikers are: Benteke and Weimann.

As for Chelsea, Rafael Benitez put on a 4231 formation.

Legendary Chelsea captain John Terry is sidelined through injury, David Luiz makes a second cameo at the back and Gary Cahill returns to the starting line-up from suspension.

Goalkeeper: Cech.

The back four are: Ashley Cole, Gary Cahill, Branislav Ivanovic and Cesar Azpilicueta.

Twin midfielders: David Luiz, Frank Lampard.

Three attacking defenders: Moses, Mata, Eden Hazard.

Single Arrow Striker: Fernando Torres.

Villa won at Stamford Bridge last season, ending an embarrassing run of three draws and seven defeats in their last 10 away games, so they will be hoping to build on their best in this game.

For Frank Lampard, the game was also of special significance, as it was his 500th Premier League start, behind James, Speed and Ryan Giggs.

Chelsea immediately took the initiative from the opening kick-off, unleashing a fierce attack on Villa's goal.

In the 48th second, Saint Torres tried to break through with the ball outside the box, only to be brought to the ground by Hudd, and Chelsea were awarded the first free-kick opportunity of the game.

The penalty spot was around 25 yards from goal and Lampard opted for a direct free-kick that hit the wall.

Villa grabbed possession but didn't pose much of a threat.

A minute later, Cesar Azpilicueta picked up the ball on the right and glanced at his team-mates in the box before opting for a wide-footed cross.

The ball went over the crowd and fell 15 yards into the middle of the Villa box, where Torres was the first to get on the head.

Torres flicked his head and the ball changed direction and flew straight towards Villa's goal.

The ball went in.

The opening time was only 129 seconds!

It was Torres' 14th goal of the season, his fastest goal to date, and Villa's 2,500th goal conceded in Premier League history.

This is destined to be a goal that will be injected into the annals of history.

The name of the Holy Child is by no means simple.

While Torres was celebrating with his teammates, José, who was sitting behind the bench, fell into deep thought.

If, just now, I was on the field, without using stunts, would I be able to block Torres's blow?

After thinking about it for a long time, José had the answer in his mind.

A good goalkeeper should not only pay attention to the opponent's shots, but also pay attention to the improvement of the situation on the field all the time.

Guzan made such a mistake, he only focused on guarding his own door and ignored the change of situation on the field, he should not have realised that Azpilicueta's cross was so threatening.

In addition, Vlaar's absence is also a lack of the backline, and Clarke is still too young to command the entire backline alone.

In addition, Baker and Hurd have been absent for a long time, facing Torres's header scramble, and there is no reasonable marking and running.

Thankfully, there is still a lot of time left and Villa still have a chance to get back on the scoresheet.

Of course, one of the things Jose also found was that the Chelsea home fans were too quiet.

In the face of Torres's goal, they simply clapped their hands.

Are all Chelsea fans so cold?