EFL Cup Final Preview, London Derby

'Chelsea's Ambitions to Defend the Title'

"Harvest Season Appetizer"

"A Double Victory for Tactics and Stars"

……

After Chelsea's 2-0 win at Liverpool, it seemed as if Chelsea were bound to reach this season's EFL Cup final.

They ignored the possibility of Liverpool turning the tables in the second leg.

This overwhelming news coverage annoyed Liverpool fans.

But let's be honest, they failed to breach Chelsea's defence at Anfield and were conceded two away goals by Chelsea.

This round to Stamford Bridge, no matter how you look at it, is more than lucky, and the probability of a comeback is indeed very low.

However, they still have a full week to make tactical adjustments, and Liverpool fans are also looking forward to the return of the main players who have been injured in the team.

In order to fully prepare for the second leg of the EFL Cup semi-finals, Liverpool even sent out a substitute and academy squad to face Bolton Wanderers in the fourth round of the FA Cup on January 24.

In the end, they were also eliminated as a matter of course.

There are not a few Premier League teams who have been eliminated in this round of FA Cup competition.

Many Premier League teams are looking to further reduce their burden and sprint to the second half of the league.

It's not just teams in the middle and lower leagues who will make this choice.

The top teams in the Premier League, such as Everton and Manchester City, have also strategically forfeited this season's FA Cup.

Chelsea's signing was good, with a draw against League One side Bradford City and a home game.

The same substitute and academy squad were used to cope with this round of FA Cup ties, but Chelsea won 1-0 in the end.

Salah cut inside and fired low into the back of the net in the 73rd minute of the second half of the second half.

After surviving this round of FA Cup fixtures, Chelsea have also reached the final 16 of this season's FA Cup.

The next round of FA Cup fixtures will not start until 14 February, during which time Chelsea will only have to focus on the EFL Cup and Premier League fixtures.

Thanks to the rest of the fourth round of the FA Cup, Chelsea's key players have been given plenty of rest.

However, Mourinho did not intend to field all his main players in the second leg against Liverpool.

First, it was unnecessary, Chelsea's advantage in the first leg was big enough.

As long as you don't underestimate the enemy in the second leg, the rotation lineup is enough to compete with Liverpool.

The second reason is that after playing the EFL Cup match with Liverpool, Chelsea only have three days of rest to usher in this season's league rematch with Manchester City.

This big game is the 'focus game' that the whole Chelsea team recognises.

In order to better target Manchester City, some of Chelsea's main players still need to be in better shape and fitness.

A week later, Chelsea take on Liverpool's challenge at Stamford Bridge.

Brendan Rodgers has finally waited for the return of several key players.

Raheem Sterling, Lovren, Glen Johnson and Lallana are all in Liverpool's eighteen-man squad for this round.

Although I don't know if Brendan Rodgers will take the risk and let these players who have just returned from injury go straight to the game.

However, Mourinho still made a plan according to Liverpool's most commonly used tactical play.

19:45 local time in London.

Chelsea and Liverpool, who had gone through the pre-match opening ceremony, played their recent second-round clash at Stamford Bridge!

Brendan Rodgers ultimately opted to challenge Chelsea with the tactics he does best.

As soon as the 433 starting line-up was revealed, the attacking trident combination of Raheem Sterling, Suarez and Philippe Coutinho also started together once again.

The midfield trio of Steven Gerrard, Lucas and Jordan Henderson is also Liverpool's most effective midfield combination right now.

At the back, Liverpool's past glory is gone, and they can only rely on Skrtel and Lovren, who has just returned from injury.

Glen Johnson may still be feeling a little unwell, so Brendan Rodgers didn't start him today and continued to play Malkovic on the right.

Liverpool's starting left wing-back is still Moreno.

And Emrejan, who was played by Leon in the last game and couldn't stabilize his personal performance, naturally sat on the bench in this game.

Seeing that Brother Neng couldn't start the battle today, Li Ang also felt a lot of regret.

There is no great intelligence to use, and in the opening stage of the game, Leon also organized the attack in a down-to-earth manner, first testing Liverpool's defensive intensity on the two wings today.

Malkovic's right side of Liverpool was naturally the focus of Leon's breakthrough in the opening stage.

But it is not known if it was before the game that Rodgers instilled a firm defensive mindset in the full-back.

No matter how Leon cooperated with Hazard to try to attack, Malkovic did not take the initiative to grab, as if he was going to squat in this game.

Plus Henderson and Coutinho's aggressive return and supplemental defense.

Liverpool's right flank, which looks set to be the focal point of Chelsea's breakthrough, was decently defended at the start of the game!

On the contrary, after Li Ang dispatched his teammates on the left side to participate in the offensive test, Liverpool seized some counter-attacking opportunities.

Henderson's physicality is outstanding, his defensive sweeping area is extensive, and the key is that he also has a very good long pass.

So compared to many of the black and hard midfielders in the Premier League, he doesn't need to hand the ball to the team's midfield core after completing a tackle.

He himself can launch a counterattack long pass as soon as possible!

Suarez also has a lot of range up front, and when he connects with Henderson, Liverpool's counter-attacking success rate skyrockets.

In the eighth minute of the first half, Suarez received a long pass from Henderson and accelerated down the right flank.

After attracting Nemanja Matic and John Terry's defence, Suarez switched positions with him before splitting the ball and was cutting in from Coutinho in the middle.

And Coutinho's smooth shot almost bypassed Cech's defense!

If it weren't for Cech's concentration and reach, he ended up rubbing his fingertips against the football.

Coutinho really helped Liverpool take the lead soon after the game!

Coutinho, who missed this great opportunity, clutched his head and looked incredulous.

And Suarez, who almost got an assist, also shouted that it was a pity.

At this moment, Li Ang clearly felt the fine sweat in his palms.

He didn't make any tactical mistakes and didn't take the Liverpool side in front of him lightly.

But he found himself underestimating the growth of some of Liverpool's future superstars.

It's true that Philippine Coutinho and Raheem Sterling haven't grown to the top of their careers.

But there is no doubt that they now have the ability to change the situation on the pitch in a flash of inspiration.

Others don't know the growth talent and potential of the two of them, but Li Ang is clear in his heart.

Plus Suarez, who is still in Liverpool and has entered his prime.

Such an attacking trident, if it really wants to break out, it is completely reasonable to catch Chelsea off guard.

The absolute dominance of the midfield can bring overwhelming wins to the team in many cases.

But football is always full of the charm of stars and the excitement of the unknown.

After all, I have witnessed the horror of the peak BBC and MSN striker combinations.

Leon didn't want to lose his team's advantage because of a senseless oversight.

So under vigilance, he made a decisive decision to drop back, at least back to the number eight position first, allowing Frank Lampard, who was with him today, to take up the front.

Many Liverpool fans in front of the TV were still applauding Suarez and Coutinho's wonderful performances.

But when the camera panned, they saw Leon and Lampard quickly covering their mouths and communicating, and then retreated straight to Suarez's side.

The excitement cooled down in an instant.

The commentator of Sky Sports also laughed and joked at this moment:

"Well, it seems that Liverpool's opening counterattack was a little too fierce~ They played too much and forced Leon out of the defensive posture, ha......"

Mourinho sat on the bench and had no problem with the tactical choice Leon made at the moment.

Although he also thinks that Leon may be a little too worried about Liverpool's counter-attacking momentum, there is nothing wrong with being careful.

Whether it's a conservative or aggressive style of play, Mourinho doesn't really care much.

The only thing he cares about is whether he can make it to the EFL Cup final.

The manager didn't say anything on the sidelines, and the decision at the heart of the pitch was a priority for the entire Chelsea squad.

For the stalwarts of the defence such as John Terry and Nemanja Matic, Leon's choice to drop back to assist them in defending will naturally further reduce the pressure on them.

And Liverpool's three strikers will soon have a hard time.

Suarez, who was closely guarded by Li Ang, was even more helpless.

He is the only big core of Liverpool's attacking system, which is not only known to Liverpool players and fans, but also to almost all Premier League fans.

Fans who don't usually look at the Premier League, just look at Suarez's 30+10 league data last season, and they understand his important role in the operation of Liverpool's entire attacking system.

Whether he chooses to play his own offense or use the ball as a tactical bait, his teammates up front will benefit from it.

Therefore, Li Ang's marking choice is very resolute.

If Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling could break down Chelsea's defence without relying on Suarez's involvement today, he would have conceded it.

Anyway, he just doesn't let Suarez play comfortably right now.

It doesn't matter if you run or take the initiative to get the ball, don't try to get in touch with other teammates in the front court and you're done!

Suarez naturally refused to rest on his laurels, he made full use of his positional advantage, and also wanted to work hard to try to get rid of Leon and do something on the offensive end.

But in Leon's opinion, Suarez's omnipotence has become a stumbling block for him at this moment.

In terms of dribbling, Suarez is not as good as Messi and Iniesta, and in terms of movement, he is not as good as Muller.

And these players mentioned above, Li Ang happened to have defended them all~

So unless Suarez is in explosive form today, he doesn't want to shake off Leon in the Chelsea half.

Coutinho and Sterling saw that their big brother was limited in their play, and in the end they could only take turns to receive the ball and act as the main attacker.

Liverpool are one less Suarez at this point, but Chelsea are also one less Leon.

After the two exchanged matches, the on-field duel between Liverpool and Chelsea was actually quite fair.

However, without the help of Leon for the time being, Chelsea faced Ibrahimovic with his own attacking system in the front, and Nemanja Matic was in the back.

The organizational cohesion of the midfield is a little less fluent, but the operation of the offensive and defensive system is still no problem, which can be seen as the upper limit of play has been reduced.

But Liverpool's absence of Suarez is not a simple reduction in the ceiling.

Last season's Suarez can be said to be playing at the ceiling of Liverpool.

But this season, when Sturridge was invisible, Suarez was carrying Liverpool's lower limit forward!

Leon still has a slight outlook on the current Raheem Sterling and Coutinho.

They're growing at a really good rate.

But against Nemanja Matic and Azpilicueta, who are now in their prime, in front of these top defenders, they really can't burst out if they want to!

Liverpool's tactical idea in this round was originally to seize the counter-attacking opportunities as much as possible, and when necessary, they also pressed the attacking force with all their strength.

But now their sharpest spearhead has been held down by Chelsea.

No matter how hard the person with the spear stabs, without the spearhead, he can't stab the opponent with thick armor.

Suarez ran for almost half an hour in the front court, and after seeing that he really couldn't get rid of Leang, he could only choose to retreat in the end.

They were about to retreat to midfield, and he received the ball once again.

But it's not a solution, after all, he has no problem with the ball, and he has no problem passing, but who is going to pick up his pass and take on the scoring load?

Rodgers, who couldn't find a tactical solution, could only sit in the coach's seat and watch the time pass minute by minute.

The first half ended with a 0-0 draw.

Chelsea don't have much desire to attack, but they do a tricky job on the defensive end, and they have the strength to give up attacking for the time being.

At the start of the second half, Brendan Rodgers expected Chelsea to continue the way they played in the first half.

But he never expected that Mourinho commanded the team to fiercely grab control of the game with Liverpool at the beginning of the second half!

Well, at this time, Suarez was free, and Leon didn't personally guard him anymore, but his teammates were forced to retreat again and again by Chelsea's ferocious forward pressure!

Chelsea's typical full-pitch pressing tactics this season have returned, with a wave of attacking momentum and a blistering pace of the whole team!

The Liverpool midfielder, who had no advantage in both strength confrontation and speed, could only speed up in front of his own defense in the end, and lost the initiative in the game in embarrassment.

Under Chelsea's continuous attack, Lovren also made mistakes in his busy schedule and personally buried Liverpool's last hope of a comeback.

In the 59th minute of the second half of the game, Lovren intercepted a beat slowly, but when chasing the defense, he reached out and pushed down Hazard who broke into the Liverpool penalty area!

The referee on duty didn't say a word, and gave a yellow dot package.

Li Ang faced the penalty kick in one fell swoop, and the total score of the two-legged battle between the two teams was directly expanded to 3-0!

This goal can be regarded as completely destroying the hopes of the whole Liverpool team.

And after completely turning to the defensive rhythm, Chelsea finally kept a clean sheet against Liverpool, winning both games and breaking into this season's EFL Cup final!

Totram Hotspur and Sheffield United's other EFL Cup semi-final is yet to be played.

But no matter which of these two teams makes it to the final stage, the whole Chelsea team is sure to win the EFL Cup!

This English domestic cup is indeed not very golden.

But it was Chelsea who won the trophy last year to declare their resurgence.

Chelsea's title goals are even more ambitious this season.

The entire Chelsea squad will be happy to once again use the EFL Cup trophy to set the stage for their season's success.

This time, though, their ambitions aren't just for the Premier League title.

EFL Cup, FA Cup, Premier League, and Champions League.

They all want it!

(End of chapter)