Chapter 650 Central defender Li Qing

At the beginning of the game, Liverpool planned a threatening attack from the right wing with Arnold, but unfortunately the final shot was missed by himself.

Brighton coach Hughes knows very well that facing the powerful Liverpool, blindly defending will not guarantee the final score, so attacking is the best option.

Gross, Borg and Murray in the Brighton team are all very fast players, so defensive counterattack is the only way out in this game.

Liverpool coach Klopp is obviously not very confident about his defense. In the first fifteen minutes of the game, Liverpool basically played against Brighton. The hearts of the Brighton fans in the stands were, The tension was getting higher and higher.

"Liverpool turned the tables and suppressed Brighton in these fifteen minutes to the point where they couldn't even get past halftime!" Martin Taylor looked a little excited. "It seems that Lee will be as idle as the goalkeeper in the defense today."

Andy Gray also commented, "Based on the development of this situation, Lee should consider participating more in the offense. After all, Liverpool has still failed to score a goal so far, and Brighton's defense is still very solid."

BBC's Lineker also thinks so, "Lee should attack. There is no need to defend at all in this game. Against a team like Brighton, it's not enough to just use offense to destroy them. There is no need to worry about defense." !”

But as soon as Lineker finished speaking, Brighton goalkeeper David Barton saved Mane's shot.

This was Liverpool's fourth shot in these fifteen minutes, but Brighton was obviously well prepared. Their defense in these fifteen minutes achieved good results.

David Barton threw the ball to Gross. The Brighton goalkeeper threw it very hard and the ball was thrown high and far. Liverpool's Robertson and Gross chased the ball almost at the same time, but it was obvious that regardless of whether Gross started it or not. The distance of the ball is too great an advantage.

After Gross grabbed the ball, he poked it forward. His kick seemed to be too much like the goalkeeper just did. The football rolled more than ten meters away, but it did not go out of bounds.

Robertson noticed and immediately rushed forward to grab the ball, but Gross ran faster than him and caught up with the ball in a few strides. At this time, Robertson suddenly discovered a problem.

In the attack just now, Liverpool's defense was too heavy, and as a result, Van Dijk on both wings and in the center overwhelmed the opponent's half.

Gross's seemingly amateurish kick just now hit the ball directly into Liverpool's half, but now in Liverpool's half, apart from Li Qing, there is only Brighton's other forward Murray.

The other party wants a two-on-one fight!

Robertson ran faster and rushed straight towards Gross. He could not let this guy continue to run forward or pass the ball. Otherwise, once Li Qing failed to keep an eye on the opponent's forward, Murray would face Alisson alone, which would definitely lead to Our side concedes a goal first!

Brighton fans saw Gross dribbling the ball along the sideline and Robertson still struggling to catch up behind him. Judging from the current speed of the two, at least before the penalty area, Robertson would definitely not be able to catch up with Gross.

So Brighton fans cheered loudly and cheered for Gross. Brighton forward Murray noticed Gross' movement and immediately moved forward towards the Liverpool half. Li Qing immediately followed.

Is the showdown finally here? Li Qing followed Murray with a smile, paying attention to Gross's running route from the corner of his eye.

Van Dyke was already striding back to chase him, and at the same time shouted to Li Qing: "Be careful to protect your back, don't let the opponent cut in, be careful of long shots..."

Before Van Dijk finished shouting, Gross, who was already approaching the penalty area, did not choose to cut in or take a long shot. Instead, he chose to pass the ball, and the ball passed directly into the penalty area.

As soon as Murray saw his teammate passing the ball, he pushed forward. In his opinion, as long as he accelerated, got rid of Li Qing, caught the ball, and scored with one hand, the next goal would be a matter of course.

But Murray had just accelerated, and Li Qing had already put his body in front of him. Murray was blocked by Li Qing, and it was impossible to increase his speed, and he didn't even have a chance to jump up and grab the ball.

When the ball flew toward the penalty area, Li Qing stretched out his leg and gently blocked the ball to goalkeeper Allison. Allison immediately passed the ball to Arnold who came over from the other side.

Be on guard!

Klopp punched hard on the sidelines, and the heart he had just raised finally let go. Li Qing's first duel with the Brighton striker ended in defeat.

Murray looked at Li Qing, who was slowly walking forward, in disbelief. He didn't expect that the Premier League's top scorer in front of him was so experienced in defense.

Many times, when masters compete against each other, the gap between them can be known in one round.

When Murray was stuck behind Li Qing just now, Murray felt as if there was a wall standing in front of him. He couldn't even push the opponent with his hands.

Is he really just a cameo? A question popped into Murray's mind that even he couldn't answer.

As the game continued, Brighton still adopted the defensive counterattack tactics, but under the guidance of the coach on the sidelines, they increased the number of long passes, and in most cases, they would play in the direction of Li Qing, but...

Murray staggered and almost fell down. He had just competed with Li Qing for the top, but was completely defeated by the opponent. The ball was pushed back by Li Qing. The two people, who were almost the same height and weight, were in a high-altitude ball duel. , Murray didn't take advantage at all.

Brighton's midfielder used all his strength to snatch the ball from Liverpool captain Henderson, and then passed the ball to the front court again.

Murray ran towards the ball, and Li Qing followed him, but Li Qing did not stare at the ball, but blocked his position to prevent Murray from suddenly accelerating and breaking through with the ball to shoot.

Murray got the ball, his teammates had not caught up yet, and Li Qing also stood in position, and the two started a duel again.

Brighton fans at the American Express Community Stadium cheered for Murray loudly, but unfortunately, the fans' cheering did not seem to help Murray. Murray tried to shake Li Qing off with several fake moves, but Li Qing was unmoved.

On the contrary, when Murray made an exaggerated shake, Li Qing quickly kicked and directly poked the ball under his feet, then stuck in front of Murray to hold the ball and passed the ball to Fabinho who came to meet him.

Throughout the first half, Liverpool had chances but failed to score. Brighton, although they played at a faster pace, were completely frozen by Li Qing in the final blow, especially Murray.

As a result, the two teams entered the halftime break with a tie.