Revive Liverpool

Chapter 289 African Cup

In this game, Southampton slaughtered Sunderland [-]-[-] at home.

In this game, Sunderland can be said to be unlucky. Two of the eight goals conceded were their own goals, and one in each half.

However, compared to Queen's Park Rangers' two own goals, Sunderland's two own goals seem to be negligible.

After all, the addition of these two own goals does not have much impact on the final result of the game.

But in addition to the unexpected victory of the game, there is also the reputation of the team to worry about.

However, fortunately, the biggest difference in the Premier League record was Manchester United's 1995-1996 victory over Ipswich Town in the [-]-[-] season.

Therefore, this game can only be placed second, and it is not nailed to the stigmata of the Premier League.

Liverpool's poaching this summer did not crush Southampton.

Some fans joked that "the Red Army didn't dig it clean, and they will move it together next time."

Their firepower seems to be stronger this season.

As for why?

Take a look at Southampton's signing list this summer:

Alderweireld (Atletico Madrid, loan), Tadic (Twente, 1400 million), Fraser Foster (Celtic, 1250 million), Pellet (Feyenoord, 1000 million), Sean Lang (Hull City, 1490 million), Bertrand (Chelsea, loan), Gardos (Bucharest Steaua, 680 million), Mane (Salzburg Red Bull, 1180 million).

And seeing Southampton's lineup for the new season, Liverpool also want to dig out Southampton's players.

At least Mane can take it away first.

However, next season will be an odd-numbered year, and Mane, as an African player, has to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations.

If Mane becomes Liverpool's thigh by then, his departure may have a considerable impact on Liverpool's lineup.

Now the Africa Cup of Nations has not made any changes to the schedule, and it is still held in winter.

And even if the African Football Confederation has made changes to allow the 2019 African Cup to be held in the summer, and the African Football Federation intends to change the African Cup to be held in the summer in the future.

However, the African Cup in Cameroon in 2021 has been changed to winter.

The reason is that Cameroon is in the rainy season in June and July, and the local climate conditions are not suitable for holding the Africa Cup of Nations.In addition, the 2021 China Club World Cup will also be held in summer, and CAF does not want the time conflicts between the two events.

For the Premier League, which has no winter break, January, when the Africa Cup of Nations is held, is the time when the team's players have the most injuries and attrition. At this time, the non-injury attrition of African players is really worse for the team.

Therefore, in the 2020-21 season next season, Liverpool's lineup in the original time and space will have big problems.

Salah, Mane, Naby Keita, Matip are all African players.

Although Liverpool also had some African players before, they never occupied the main lineup in Liverpool's lineup. Without them, the impact on Liverpool is not particularly great.

Therefore, the African Cup has little impact on Liverpool, and it is even a good thing for Liverpool, because Liverpool's opponents may experience non-combat attrition at this time.

But even if there were no African players at the time, Liverpool would still stand with those clubs and hope that the African Cup of Nations will be held in the summer, but it is not as anxious as those other clubs.

After all, no one knows whether they will have African players in the future.

Having said that for a long time, in fact, Liverpool still has some doubts about the introduction of African players.

There is no problem with one or two. Now that there is Matip in the Liverpool lineup, it is acceptable to have another Mane.

But if Liverpool still wants to introduce Salah and Naby Keita later, the African Cup will become a big problem for Liverpool.

Perhaps it was because of some news that Liverpool knew that the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations might be moved to the summer, so Liverpool made Salah's signing.

Otherwise, the team's two major strikers are still Mane with thighs, and Salah has both non-combat downsizing at the same time, which is not so easy for Klopp.

Having said this for a long time, it is actually assumed that the national team of Liverpool African players can participate in the Africa Cup of Nations.

But this premise is also dispensable. How fierce can the competition in the African Cup be?

When the team can have a top star in the Premier League, and then match some players with a good level, it should be no problem to advance to the Africa Cup of Nations. It is just a matter of going far or not.

If there is a top Premier League star who cannot enter the African Cup, it can only be said that the teammates of the top Premier League star are too rubbish and not suitable for football.

But now that an African country can cultivate a top football star, the country's original football atmosphere should not be bad, and it should be easy to find a few capable players.

……

The third round of the Champions League group stage is about to begin.

On October 10, Liverpool played at home against Athletic Bilbao.

In the 45th minute, De Bruyne tore through the defense with a direct pass, and Lewandowski hit the lower right corner of the restricted area. Liverpool led Athletic Bilbao [-]-[-].

In the 58th minute, Beniat sent an assist, Fernandez shot the ball into the lower left corner of the goal, and Athletic Bilbao tied the score one to one.

In the 75th minute, De Bruyne sent an assist, Griezmann's left-wing attack from the penalty area hit the lower left corner, and Liverpool once again led Athletic Bilbao [-]-[-].

In the end, Liverpool beat Athletic Bilbao [-]-[-].

In the first 8 rounds of the UEFA Champions League in the same round, 16 teams jointly contributed 40 goals, creating the record for the most goals scored in a single match day in the UEFA Champions League.

Shakhtar Donetsk, who was in the same group as Liverpool, swept Borisov 1-5, and Adriano scored [-] yuan alone, tying Messi's record for individual goals in a single game in the Champions League.

Also a big win were Chelsea's [-]-[-] win over Maribor and Bayern Munich's [-]-[-] win over Roma.

In addition, Schalke beat Sporting Lisbon [-]-[-] in an above-average game (five goals).

Games that took a bit of a step back (four goals) included Barcelona's [-]-[-] win over Ajax and CSKA Moscow's [-]-[-] draw against Manchester City.

The most stretched game is the game between APOEL and Paris Saint-Germain. There is only one goal, which is really unreasonable.

In their own Champions League group, Liverpool has two wins and one draw in three games, temporarily ranking first in the group.

Behind Liverpool is Shakhtar Donetsk, with three games, one win and two draws, two points behind Liverpool.

(End of this chapter)