August 15, 2010.
Anfield Stadium.
Its English name was Anfield Stadium, and it was also known as Anfield.
It was located in the Anfield district of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It was a UEFA four-star stadium and the home ground of Premier League club Liverpool.
It was 1.8 kilometers from Kirkdale Train Station, 6.4 kilometers from the M57-J6 coach station, and 13.3 kilometers from John Lennon Airport.
That year, after the American Fenway Sports Group acquired Liverpool, it decided to expand Anfield Stadium.
However, construction wouldn't begin until 2014.
On the day of the Liverpool versus Arsenal match,
nearly forty thousand fans arrived an hour early.
Although Anfield Stadium had a total of 61,276 seats, making it the fourth-largest stadium in the Premier League,
its record attendance had been set way back on February 2, 1952, when 61,905 people watched Liverpool face Wolverhampton Wanderers in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
The largest crowd for a Premier League match there had been 44,983, at Liverpool's game against Tottenham on January 14, 2006.
So the fact that forty thousand fans had turned up to watch Liverpool face Arsenal today showed just how much attention the match was attracting.
Of course, Li Yufei knew that Anfield's record attendance would eventually be broken in 2024 by his girlfriend's Eras Tour.
Just thinking about it made Li Yufei feel immense pressure!
Damn, the person he was bound to really was a little too formidable. He felt like even becoming the GOAT of football wouldn't be enough to keep up with her!
After all, pop music's audience was undoubtedly far larger than football's.
Forget football—even all sports combined couldn't match music's audience!
Thinking of this, Li Yufei secretly steeled himself. He had to work hard!
Before his girlfriend took off completely, he needed to make a name for himself.
At least for now, the global fame of football's superstars was still slightly greater than his girlfriend's.
If Li Yufei remembered correctly, Taylor's real rise began when she transitioned into a pop singer.
Her 2012 album Red could only be considered a semi-pop album.
It was 1989, released in 2014, that became Taylor's first genuinely pop album.
That was also when Taylor began her path to godhood.
By that reckoning, Li Yufei still had plenty of time and every chance to surpass his girlfriend.
As for Taylor becoming completely inhuman later on, he could worry about that when the time came.
When it came to fame, football had a ceiling, and it really couldn't compete with music.
Li Yufei would have to see if he could raise his own ceiling through some other means.
After all, he didn't want people's first thought of him in the future to be, "Taylor Swift's husband, the man of the global pop queen."
For a transmigrator with a cheat like Li Yufei, that would be a disgrace!
Even if being kept by a rich woman was pretty sweet, Li Yufei still had his pride.
At the very least, he couldn't let his wealthy celebrity girlfriend outshine him.
"Then my road to ascension starts with this match!"
Li Yufei made up his mind. He had to make a spectacular impression in his league debut!
Even if he was only going to be a substitute, he'd be a super sub!
Arsenal arrived at Anfield Stadium nearly an hour early, the whole team riding in a coach.
Looking out at the sea of red people outside, Li Yufei couldn't help feeling a surge of heroic spirit.
Although the vast majority of them were Liverpool fans,
Li Yufei felt that putting on a painful show for them was absolutely necessary!
At the very least, it would leave a deep impression on Liverpool's fans, wouldn't it?
At the pre-match press conference, Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson made his position clear:
"We have to win this match at Anfield. There's no other possibility!"
"As for Arsenal, I'm sorry, but a team that's achieved nothing in nearly five years can no longer be called a strong side!"
"Today, we'll defeat them completely at Anfield!"
Perhaps because the media had recently been running so many stories about Li Yufei, Hodgson made the unprecedented move of commenting on a player who had yet to make a competitive first-team appearance:
"I've seen a lot of news outlets reporting on that kid lately."
"Honestly, I don't know what there is to report. Isn't he just a young player who's done fairly well in youth training?"
"But bear in mind, England produces a few so-called prodigies every year, and only a handful of them ever truly make it."
"I have my doubts about that kid's future. Maybe he really will grow into a talented player one day."
"But that day isn't today, and it certainly won't be in a match against Liverpool."
"If he takes the field today, I'll give him a debut he'll never forget. I hope he doesn't lose confidence."
When Wenger was told about Hodgson's remarks during an interview, he didn't take them to heart and merely smiled:
"It's strange. A team that has never topped the Premier League Era is criticizing a team that's won the Premier League three times."
"I have nothing to say. Today's match will be the best answer."
In the locker room,
assistant coach Bould went over the tactical details with everyone again.
Li Yufei listened while his mind wandered.
Honestly, in his eyes, the current Liverpool side wasn't strong at all.
You could say that from Liverpool's two Champions League final appearances in three years, from 2005 to 2007, until the Klopp Red Army era, Liverpool had never been much good.
Maybe Liverpool had been somewhat competitive during Suarez's time there.
But Suarez had joined Liverpool in the winter transfer window of 2011. At this point, he was still playing for Ajax in the Dutch league.
This Liverpool lineup really was pretty terrible. It was even slightly inferior to Arsenal's!
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