623: The King of Highbury is not optimistic about Arsenal

December 26, 2017, Tongyi Stadium, South London, England.

What is happening here today is the 20th round of the 2017-2018 Premier League season. The highlight of Crystal Palace's home game against Arsenal is the London Derby.

For this game, the fans in London are paying attention and staring.

Fans of teams such as Arsenal, Tottenham, Fulham and West Ham United are all watching this game. After all, these two teams now represent the highest level of London football. Everyone wants to Want to see what they can do?

Moreover, there are fans of the Manchester duo who are also paying attention to this game, especially Manchester City fans.

In this round of games, Manchester City is visiting Newcastle United, and Manchester City should be able to win easily. Now the Manchester City people are waiting for Crystal Palace to lose so that they can widen the point difference.

At present, as long as Crystal Palace loses a game, Manchester City will be able to take the initiative in its own hands.

Because if we can find three points here, there will be a direct match between Manchester City and Crystal Palace next season, and we can get three points back. In this case, Manchester City will not care whether Crystal Palace has two games less. At that time, even if Crystal Palace has two games If they win all the playoffs, Manchester City will still be one point ahead of them, and Manchester City will be able to secure the top spot in the Premier League.

Therefore, Manchester City fans hope that Arsenal can defeat Crystal Palace.

This is not helping their Manchester City team, but helping Arsenal themselves.

Therefore, Arsenal must win this game.

Yes, Manchester City fans seem to be more anxious than Arsenal people and value this game more.

"Hello, audience friends, fans friends! This is BBC Sports, I am the Mortensen you are familiar with, and today we are here to bring you a highlight of the 20th round of the 2017-2018 Premier League season, against The two sides are Crystal Palace and Arsenal, London Derby!" Mortensen sat in the commentary box at Tongyi Stadium and broadcast the game live.

"Hello everyone! I am Shearer, as you are familiar with. Today I am one of the football commentators for this game!" Shearer introduced himself very crisply.

"What number are you calling! I am also familiar to you - Henry! Today I am also the football commentator for this game!" Yes, today Henry also came to the commentary box to comment on this game.

Mortensen immediately asked, "Thierry, what do you think of this game? Who do you like?"

Hiller also looked directly at Henry, seemingly waiting for Henry's answer.

Henry smiled slightly and said, "For this game, I am actually quite optimistic about Crystal Palace! Crystal Palace is indeed very strong at the moment, in good condition, and has an unstoppable posture. The Manchester United team in front did not stop Crystal Palace. I think Arsenal are pretty good right now!"

This was beyond everyone's expectations, especially the Arsenal fans in front of the TV.

Henry, you are from Arsenal, why do you make others' ambitions destroy your own prestige?

Isn't this right?

Shearer and Mortensen looked at each other, both seeing the horror and disbelief in each other's eyes. This is completely different from what they expected. Why is this? This guy Henry really doesn't play by common sense!

Henry did not let the situation cool down and said directly, "The main reason why I am optimistic about Crystal Palace is because we do have internal problems at Arsenal recently. And the problems are quite serious, and Crystal Palace is currently in good condition. I think There shouldn't be much problem for them to win. Moreover, in my opinion, if Arsenal does not solve its internal problems as soon as possible, it will be difficult for Arsenal to achieve an ideal result this season. Mr. Wenger, you need to be quick. Cut off the mess!"

Arsenal fans fell silent upon hearing this, and they did not blame Henry.

In fact, he also felt that what Henry said actually made sense.

There are indeed many internal problems at Arsenal. If they are not solved as soon as possible, Arsenal will fall apart. How will they face the second half of the game? There are currently problems with Wilshere's contract renewal. Sanchez and others are clamoring to leave. Even Aubameyang and Lacazette, who have just returned, are also unwilling to give up...

If these problems are not resolved as soon as possible, Arsenal will explode this season!

Mortensen and Shearer looked at each other and nodded, expressing their agreement with Henry's words.

When Henry said such words today, it really sounded like killing one's relatives out of righteousness.

Shearer immediately said, "Thierry still has a bright eye. He can see Arsenal's biggest problem at a glance. This problem is also very fatal in the game, so in this game, Arsenal is actually very hanging. Those expectations Anyone who wants Arsenal to win will be disappointed today."

Obviously, Shearer is also optimistic about Crystal Palace, there is no suspense about it.

After all, Shearer is a loyal listener, and Crystal Palace's recent performance has been so good. He really can't think of the reason why Crystal Palace lost.

Crystal Palace must win this game!

Mortensen looked at the two men and asked directly, "Is it true that Arsenal has no chance at all in this game?"

This is what the sensible fans in front of the TV want to ask.

Shearer and Henry looked at each other, and then Shearer motioned to Henry to speak.

After all, Henry is a guest, so Henry should be allowed to talk more. Henry did not give in and said directly, "Of course there is a chance. If Arsenal solves the internal problems before this game. Or even temporarily suppresses the internal problems and copes with this game together, We at Arsenal still have a chance!"

Hearing this, the Arsenal fans in front of the TV seemed to be grasping at straws and nodded desperately, thinking that Henry was right. Our Arsenal game still has opportunities

Yes, it is not an existence that is at the mercy of others.

Shearer looked at Henry and asked directly, "Do you think Arsenal has temporarily solved the team's internal problems at this time?"

Mortensen also looked up directly at Henry.

Henry frowned slightly, then shook his head and said, "We don't know. We have to find out from the game. Look at how Arsenal played at the beginning of this game? If they played well, that's Solved. Anyway, I still hope that Arsenal can win."

Bang bang bang, the Arsenal fans in front of the TV gave Henry applause.

Shearer nodded and said, "Yes, we have to wait until we see everything in the game to know. We know that Arsenal has strength, and now it depends on whether they can show it in this game."

At this time, the players from both sides followed Michael Oliver, the referee of this game, into the stadium and came to the stadium.

"Okay, at this time, the players from both sides have entered the stadium, and the game is about to start. At this time, we will take advantage of the pre-match ceremony to introduce the starting lineups of the two teams today. "Mortensen immediately sorted out the information in his hand and began to speak.

Today’s starting lineups for both sides are as follows:

Home team Crystal Palace, head coach Tong Yi, formation 4213

goalkeeper Maignan

Back four from left to right Cancelo, Rudiger, Van Dijk and Carvajal

Double defensive midfielder Casemiro and Kante

Single attacking midfielder De Bruyne

The three forwards from left to right Salah, Ronaldo and Mbappe

Visiting team Arsenal, head coach Arsene Wenger, formation 3412

Cech

The back three from left to right Koscielny, Mustafi and Chambers

The four midfielders from left to right are Kolasinac, Wilshere, Xhaka and Bellerin.

Single front waist goldfish eye

Double forward Aubameyang and Lacazette

After seeing the starting lineups of the two teams, Mortensen suddenly asked, "What do you think after seeing the starting lineups of these two teams? Is it different from what you imagined?"

Shearer shook his head directly and said, "No, this is the absolute main lineup of Crystal Palace. The fact that Crystal Palace has arranged such a lineup shows that they attach great importance to this game. Obviously, David and the players of Crystal Palace will be in this game." He gave his best in every game.”

Indeed, seeing the all-main home court of Crystal Palace, everyone can realize the importance Crystal Palace and Tong Yi attach to this game. It seems that Arsenal will face a fierce battle in this game, and Arsenal may not be able to win.

Henry also nodded immediately and said, "That's true. The lineup of Crystal Palace shows everything. They will definitely try their best in this game. It will indeed be difficult for Arsenal to win. As for

Arsenal's starting lineup is still a bit beyond my expectations. "

It was indeed a bit beyond Henry's expectations.

Of course, what was unexpected was not Wenger's use of three central defenders. This was not the first time Wenger had used a three central defenders formation. In the past two years, there seems to be a craze for three central defenders all over the world. Nowadays, many teams in the Premier League are using a three central defender system. Wenger's side is naturally not lagging behind.

This season they have frequently used a three-centre-back system, and this game is no exception.

However, the results at Arsenal are not very good, which may be related to the three central defender system.

To Henry's expectation, Arsenal did not start Sanchez in this game and directly put Sanchez on the bench. Although Sanchez has conflicts with Arsenal and Wenger, in such a crucial game, Sanchez was not allowed to play?

And even if there was a conflict between Sanchez and Wenger, it did not affect Sanchez's playing time in previous games. what is it today? Sanchez was not allowed to play in such a crucial game?

Of course, Henry also feels that Arsenal's current forward line is still very good, and Arsenal should be able to compete in this game even without Sanchez. The premise is that these guys are united and try their best to fight for Crystal Palace.

Henry said, "Sanchez may leave Arsenal when the winter transfer door opens. Otherwise, Wenger would not let Sanchez start in such an important game."

Sanchez's desire to leave Arsenal is well known.

During the transfer this past summer, Sanchez wanted to leave. At that time, Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid and Manchester City all wanted to sign Sanchez. Even in the end, Manchester City agreed to a transfer fee of 70 million pounds from Arsenal.

Unexpectedly, Wenger did not finalize the Frenchman Lemar, so he finally regretted it and rejected Manchester City's offer.

This completely angered Sanchez, so this season Sanchez was a monk and clocked every day.

The reason why Sanchez dares to do this is because after the end of this season, his contract with Arsenal will expire and he will be able to move freely.

At this time, Arsenal are frantically promoting Sanchez and preparing to send Sanchez away this winter.

In this game, Sanchez did not start. In Henry's view, Sanchez's transfer has basically been completed.

After hearing Henry say this, both Shearer and Mortensen understood. No wonder Sanchez will not start.

At this moment, the main draft of this game immediately blew the whistle to start the game.

The first to kick off was the visiting team Arsenal, who were wearing red and white jerseys and attacked from the right to the left of the screen, while Crystal Palace, wearing their traditional red and blue striped jerseys, attacked from the left to the right of the screen.

All the fans at the scene immediately cheered excitedly, cheering for the players on both sides.