It Happened Again!

It turned out that Yang Yang's worry had been justified.

The match away against the Gunners was fiercely contested from the start.

Liverpool began cautiously. After all, Mascherano was absent, and Gareth Barry and Xabi Alonso needed time to adjust to one another. They were also playing away, so they dared not be careless.

Arsenal patiently searched for openings, looking completely unhurried.

Liverpool made the first move, but in the twenty-fourth minute, when Arsenal's midfield received the ball, Liverpool applied pressure. Nasri sent a long pass forward, delivering the ball into the attacking half.

Near the edge of the penalty area, Van Persie fought off Carragher and Daniel Agger to win the ball. After controlling it with his chest, he nutmegged Carragher and unleashed a volley from the edge of the box, scoring Arsenal's opening goal. One–nil!

On the pitch, Yang Yang watched as Van Persie excitedly sprinted off to celebrate the goal. He let out a heavy sigh, feeling deeply frustrated.

What he had feared had finally happened.

Liverpool's three reliable center-backs were all in less-than-ideal form. The hidden danger had already been exposed in the match against Hull City, and it was still there this afternoon against Arsenal.

Carragher was clearly very frustrated. He kept shaking his head and pointed at the sun overhead. "I was blinded by the sunlight for a moment."

There was nothing the others could say to that. After all, what could Liverpool do when they had lost the coin toss to Arsenal before kickoff?

The Gunners had clearly prepared for this in advance. After winning the toss, they had declined to choose kickoff and instead selected the side that favored them in the first half. They had wanted Liverpool to defend against the sun.

As for an hour later, when the teams