"Goalkeeper: Reina."
"Defenders: Glen Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger."
"Midfielders: Mascherano, Joe Cole, Gerrard."
"Forwards: Kuyt, N'Gog, Milan Jovanović."
To be frank, Li Yufei hadn't even heard of half the players in this lineup.
It was ridiculous. Even though he'd only started following football relatively late in his previous life, surely he should have heard of at least a few former starters from a European powerhouse!
Of the eleven starters, Li Yufei only knew the goalkeeper, Reina; the defender, Carragher; and two midfielders: Little Ma, Mascherano, and the Red Army Soul, Gerrard.
He hadn't heard of most of the rest. The three forwards in particular left him utterly bewildered.
The only one he vaguely recognized was Kuyt.
Li Yufei remembered that, in his previous life, the guy had supposedly scored the simplest "pick-up-a-hat-trick" in history.
But the memory was already very hazy. After all, Li Yufei had been living in this world for nearly eighteen years.
Apart from football-related memories and a few major events, he'd forgotten just about everything else from his previous life.
It was already remarkable that he had even the faintest impression of Kuyt!
When Li Yufei learned Liverpool's starting lineup before the match, he couldn't help but feel relieved.
Thank goodness. We've run into a fake powerhouse dressed up as a giant. This match should be pretty easy.
After the pre-match press conference, Wenger entered the dressing room and gave the team a few brief reminders to watch out for Liverpool's physicality.
These days, physicality was just about the only thing Liverpool had going for them. They had nothing else.
Once Wenger had finished, Arsenal's eleven starters made their way into the players' tunnel, ready to follow the referee onto the pitch.
Li Yufei took a seat on the bench with his six "brothers in misfortune."
At Anfield, the substitutes' bench was situated beside the main stand. Since Premier League grounds were all standard football stadiums, they didn't have separate benches like the multipurpose stadiums back home.
As a result, the bench sat right next to the main stand's seating.
From a distance, the players on the bench could easily be mistaken for ordinary fans who hadn't made the matchday squad and had to watch from the stands.
Li Yufei had only just sat down when he felt the deep malice of all the noise coming from behind him.
Words like "FUCK" were practically flying nonstop.
Fabregas worried Li Yufei wouldn't be able to take it and made a point of offering him a few words of comfort.
To be fair, even though Li Yufei knew Fabregas would be wearing a Barcelona shirt next season and reenacting the tale of "Loyal Guan Erye," he still couldn't bring himself to dislike him.
There was no denying Fabregas's concern for him had a lot to do with Li's Father.
Still, Li Yufei was a little grateful that Fabregas had kept helping him settle into the team.
A few minutes later, amid a roar from the crowd, Liverpool and Arsenal's starting players emerged from the tunnel with the officials.
Fabregas, the first captain, and Van Persie, the second captain, weren't on the pitch, so Arsenal's third captain, Vermaelen, took part in the coin toss with Liverpool captain Gerrard.
Gerrard guessed correctly and chose to kick off.
As soon as the clock struck 3:00 p.m.,
the referee blew his whistle to start the match.
The two star Sky Sports commentators, Martin Tyler and Andy Gray, began their broadcast from the studio:
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our live coverage of the 2010–2011 English Premier League season. Today's match sees Liverpool playing at home against visiting Arsenal."
After kick-off, Liverpool passed the ball around a couple of times in their own half, then quickly pushed forward, looking to give Arsenal an early warning.
Johnson carried the ball to midfield, then passed it sideways to Mascherano.
Little Ma controlled the ball and passed it on to captain Gerrard.
Gerrard played a through ball into the left side of the attacking half, where Milan Jovanović controlled it. He then combined with N'Gog in the middle for a one-two.
Milan Jovanović shifted into space and got a chance to shoot.
Koscielny moved across to try to block him.
But Jovanović got his shot away first.
Fortunately, the angle was tight and the shot was difficult to place. Jovanović sent it into the side netting on the left.
Seeing Liverpool create what looked like a dangerous shot less than two minutes into the match, Wenger gestured angrily from the touchline, telling Arsenal's players to stay focused and stop giving Liverpool such easy chances to shoot.
In the seventh minute, Liverpool came forward again. Mascherano intercepted Diaby's pass in midfield and played the ball to Gerrard.
Gerrard sent it out wide. Liverpool's right winger Kuyt crossed, but N'Gog lost the aerial duel with Vermaelen, and the ball was cleared.
In the thirteenth minute, Liverpool won the ball back in midfield again. Gerrard got the better of Wilshere in a challenge and immediately sent a through ball forward. N'Gog held off Eboue and forced a shot despite not having a good chance.
The ball hit Eboue's leg and changed direction. Almunia had already shifted his weight the other way.
The ball bounced toward the right post, then rolled across the goalmouth less than twenty centimetres from the line.
Fortunately, Almunia threw himself toward the ball in time, bringing Liverpool's nerve-racking attack to an end.
N'Gog covered his forehead in frustration at missing the chance. Gerrard came over and patted him on the head in encouragement.
"Arsenal have made a poor start. They haven't created a single threat at the other end, yet they've already faced three dangerous situations."
"This isn't the kind of performance you expect from a top team. Arsène will need to find a solution."
Wenger looked unhappy as he watched from the touchline. He quickly called over the midfielders and told Wilshere and the others to pay attention to their surroundings when receiving the ball.
In the first ten or so minutes, Arsenal had already lost possession several times in midfield.
That was absolutely unacceptable!
As the match went on, Liverpool played better and better, as if they had endless energy to burn.
They were especially dominant in the physical battles, clearly overpowering Arsenal's players.
Watching from the bench, Li Yufei was completely baffled. What was going on?
Liverpool were actually pushing Arsenal back? That couldn't be right!
Although Li Yufei didn't know much about the strength of Premier League teams from this period in his previous life,
he knew that Liverpool weren't considered a strong team at the time.
Before Fabregas, Van Persie, Nasri, and Song left,
Arsenal hadn't yet become the top-four-chasing side they would later be.
This Arsenal had the ambition and ability to win a major trophy.
Against a fallen giant like Liverpool, a team like that should have been dominating the match.
At the very least, they shouldn't have been on the back foot.
Li Yufei remembered the recent head-to-head record between the two teams, which the media had published before the match. In their last five games against Liverpool, Arsenal had won three and drawn two, remaining unbeaten!
They'd even won their last three matches outright!
Thinking about it, Li Yufei couldn't make sense of what was happening on the pitch.
Before you continue