Liverpool's Preemptive Strike, Li Yufei's Confusion

"Goalkeeper: Reina."

"Defenders: Glen Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger."

"Midfielders: Mascherano, Joe Cole, Gerrard."

"Forwards: Kuyt, N'Gog, Milan Jovanović."

Forgive Li Yufei for saying so, but he hadn't even heard of half the players in this lineup.

That was absurd. Even if he'd started following football later in his past life, he should still recognize more than a few starters from a European giant!

Of these eleven starters, Li Yufei only knew Reina in goal, Carragher in defense, and two midfielders—Little Ma Mascherano and the Red Army Soul Gerrard.

The rest were basically strangers, especially the three forwards. Li Yufei stared with a head full of question marks.

The only one he had any vague memory of was Kuyt.

He recalled that in his past life, this guy had pulled off the simplest "tap-in hat-trick" in history.

But that memory was already hazy, since Li Yufei had been living in this world for nearly eighteen years.

Aside from football-related stuff and a few major events, he'd forgotten most of his past life.

Just having that faint impression of Kuyt was already a rarity!

When he learned Liverpool's starting lineup before the match, Li Yufei couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Good, we're up against a fake powerhouse in a giant's clothing. This game should be pretty easy."

After the pre-match press conference ended, Wenger walked into the locker room, gave a few brief instructions, and told everyone to watch out for Liverpool's physical intensity.

These days, Liverpool only had that one thing worth mentioning—nothing else.

Once he was done, Arsenal's eleven starters walked into the tunnel, ready to follow the Main Referee onto the pitch.

Li Yufei, along with six "brothers in misery," sat down on the bench.

Anfield's bench was right under the main stand. Since all Premier League stadiums were proper football grounds—unlike the multi-purpose stadiums back home with their designated bench areas—the bench was crammed right next to the home fans' seats.

From a distance, you'd think those benchwarmers were just ordinary fans who didn't even make the squad and had to watch from the stands.

The moment Li Yufei sat down, he felt the deep malice of all kinds of noise at his back.

Words like "FUCK" rang out nonstop.

Fabregas worried Li Yufei couldn't handle it and even said a few words to comfort him.

Truth be told, even knowing that next season Little Fa would pull a "Loyal Guan Erye" and switch to FC Barcelona's jersey, Li Yufei couldn't bring himself to dislike him after all this time together.

There was no denying that Fabregas's concern was tied to Li's Father.

But he'd kept helping Li Yufei fit into the team, and Li Yufei was a little grateful for that.

A few minutes later, amid a roar from the crowd, Liverpool and Arsenal's starters walked out of the tunnel with the referee team.

Since Fabregas, the first captain, and Van Persie, the second captain, weren't playing, Arsenal's third captain Vermaelen went to the center circle for the coin toss against Liverpool's captain Gerrard.

Gerrard guessed the coin flip right and chose the kickoff.

As soon as 15:00 hit, the Main Referee blew the whistle to start the match.

Sky Sports' two star commentators, Martin Tyler and Andy Gray, began their broadcast from the studio:

"Ladies and gentlemen, hello, and welcome to the live broadcast of the 2010–2011 Premier League season. Today's match features the home side Liverpool against the visiting Arsenal."

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"..."

After the match started, Liverpool passed it around at the back for a bit, then quickly pushed forward to try and catch Arsenal off guard.

Johnson dribbled to midfield and passed it sideways to Mascherano.

Little Ma stopped the ball and sent it to captain Gerrard.

Gerrard took it and threaded a through ball to the left side of the front field. Milan Jovanović controlled it, then played a quick one-two with N'Gog in the center.

Milan Jovanović shook off his marker and got a shooting chance.

Koscielny slid over to try and block.

But Jovanović's shot got off first.

Luckily, the angle from that position was tight and hard to score from. Jovanović's effort hit the left side netting.

Seeing Liverpool create a threatening shot less than two minutes into the game, Wenger pointed from the sideline and gestured for his players to focus up and not give Liverpool such easy chances again.

In the 7th minute, Liverpool came again. Mascherano intercepted Diaby's ball in midfield and fed it to Gerrard's feet.

Gerrard slipped it out wide. Liverpool's right winger Kuyt crossed from the flank, and N'Gog lost the aerial duel to Vermaelen, who cleared the ball.

In the 13th minute, Liverpool won another midfield tackle. Gerrard got the better of Wilshere in a scrap, then threaded a through ball. Up front, N'Gog held off Eboue and forced a shot from a poor angle.

The ball struck Eboue's leg, deflecting off course just as goalkeeper Almunia had already committed his weight.

The ball bounced awkwardly, hitting the right post, then rolled horizontally less than 20 centimeters from the goal line.

Fortunately, Almunia lunged toward the ball in time, putting an end to Liverpool's dangerous attack.

N'Gog, having missed a golden opportunity, covered his forehead in frustration. Gerrard stepped over and patted him on the head in encouragement.

"Arsenal's start is unfavorable. Without posing any offensive threat to Liverpool, they've already faced three goal-scoring crises."

"This isn't the performance of a strong team. Arsène needs to figure something out."

Wenger's expression on the sideline was grim. He quickly called out to the midfield, signaling Wilshere and the others to stay aware of their surroundings when receiving the ball.

In the opening ten-plus minutes, Arsenal had already lost possession in midfield several times.

That was absolutely unacceptable!

As the match progressed, Liverpool played better and better, as if they had boundless energy to burn.

Especially in physical duels, they clearly overpowered Arsenal's players.

Watching from the bench, Li Yufei was baffled. What was going on?

This Liverpool team was actually dominating Arsenal? That didn't seem right!

Although Li Yufei didn't have a deep understanding of Premier League teams from this period in his past life, he knew that Liverpool was far from being a strong team right now.

Before Fabregas, Van Persie, Nasri, and Song left, Arsenal hadn't yet degenerated into the "top-four contenders" they later became.

At this point, Arsenal had both the ambition and the ability to win a major trophy.

A team like that should be playing a dominant game against a fallen giant like Liverpool.

At the very least, they shouldn't be at a disadvantage on the pitch.

Li Yufei recalled the recent head-to-head record the media had published before the match: in the last five games, Arsenal had three wins and two draws against Liverpool—undefeated!

And they had won the last three in a row!

Thinking about that, Li Yufei couldn't understand the situation on the field.

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