February 20, 2018, Leicester City, England, King Power Stadium!
What is happening here today is the 18th round make-up match of the 2017-2018 Premier League season. Originally, this game was supposed to be played on December 16 last year. Because Crystal Palace was a club attending, it was postponed to today.
This is also the second make-up game for Crystal Palace this season due to postponement.
They defeated Watford 4-0 in the previous game.
Today they face the stronger Leicester City team here. Manchester City fans think that Crystal Palace is likely to capsize and Crystal Palace is likely to lose!
Manchester City fans have very high expectations for Leicester City.
In the words of some people, whether Manchester City can win the championship this season depends on Leicester City.
Come on Leicester City!
However, it is actually quite difficult for Leicester City to defeat Crystal Palace.
There is no doubt about the strength of Crystal Palace. More importantly, Crystal Palace is still in very good shape at this stage. They are still winning consecutively and almost no team can beat them.
Moreover, Crystal Palace's head coach Tong Yi just won the 2017-2018 Premier League January Coach of the Month award a few days ago. This shows that Crystal Palace has been in very good shape in the past month or so. They want Leicester City to
It is really difficult to beat Crystal Palace.
However, Leicester City's head coach Pierre was also full of confidence before the game, giving Manchester City fans hope.
Pierre said in an interview with media reporters, "This game is played at home for Leicester City, which is our advantage. And we are waiting for work and have a great opportunity. We Leches
Leicester City's schedule is not as intensive as Crystal Palace. Now we have an absolute advantage in this aspect, in terms of physical strength. Therefore, our chances of Leicester City winning this game are quite high.
"
Indeed, as Pierre said, Crystal Palace's recent schedule is very secretive. It is the league, the Champions League, the FA Cup and even the EFL Cup. There are too many games and there is almost no time to rest. And
They are different from Leicester City. They only have the league and the FA Cup, so they should have an advantage in terms of physical fitness.
This is why Manchester City fans are so optimistic about Leicester City.
Come on Leicester City, beat Crystal Palace, don't let Crystal Palace score any more points!
Yes, the Manchester City team is anxious!
If Crystal Palace continues to score points like this, their work as a Manchester City team will be in vain.
Now the players from both sides have appeared in this game, and the Leicester City players also look very confident. It seems that the Leicester City people really have a chance in this game.
From the perspective of the Manchester City team who are paying attention to this game, this is a good thing and there is a chance.
Leicester City, come on!
Manchester City fans have transformed into Leicester City fans at this time and support Leicester City.
Because this game is a make-up match, there is naturally no game on the Manchester City side. Therefore, almost all of them are paying attention to this game and looking forward to Leicester City winning.<
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Even Guardiola and the others are paying attention to this game.
Before this game, Guardiola even accepted interviews with media reporters.
He said, "Needless to say, I definitely support Leicester City. And I believe that the entire Premier League should support Leicester City now. Because we can't let Crystal Palace continue to win like this. Let Crystal Palace continue to win."
If we win, it will be a shame for all other teams in our entire Premier League! I don’t think anyone wants to be the backdrop for the Crystal Palace people to go down in history. Therefore, Crystal Palace must lose! And it must lose continuously! This
After just one game, I felt that Leicester City had a chance!"
Did you see that Guardiola is also waiting for Crystal Palace to lose?
Guardiola even pulled all the Premier League teams onto his chariot and fought to the death with Crystal Palace!
Now Guardiola and his coaching staff are sitting in front of the TV and watching this game. They are all looking forward to Crystal Palace losing!
At this time, the players from both sides had already entered the stadium, and everyone saw the starting lineups of both sides today.
The starting lineups for both sides are as follows
Home team Leicester City, head coach Pierre, formation 4231
goalkeeper schmeichel
Back four from left to right Chilwell, Maguire, Mogan and Simpson
Double defensive midfielder Ibora and Ndidi
Midfield three from left to right Albrighton, Dimare Gray and Mahrez
lone striker Vardy
Visiting 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
Three forwards from left to right Salah, Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe
In terms of lineup, Leicester City's strength is still good, otherwise they would not be able to reach the ninth position in the Premier League. But to be honest, this lineup also has big problems.
Especially on the back line.
Tong Yi has already reminded the Crystal Palace players that Leicester City's two central defenders have big problems.
The two of them have good front-facing and defensive control abilities, which are among the best in the Premier League. However, both of them are tall and strong defenders with a particularly large frontal defensive area, but their turning flexibility is very poor.
, it can be called a U-turn of an aircraft carrier, and the speed of pursuit is very slow, as slow as a snail!
Therefore, the offense in this game almost frequently found space behind the two central defenders.
In this case, this game should be easily won.
Moreover, the defense of the opponent's two full-backs is actually not very strong, and there is a lot of work that can be done on this.
Therefore, Tong Yi is quite confident about this game now.
After all, their Crystal Palace forwards are all fast and have good breakthrough abilities. They are good at attacking behind the opponent's center back. In addition, with De Bruyne delivering the ball in the midfield, this game should be quite stable.
Guardiola, who was in front of the TV, frowned slightly when he saw Leicester City's starting lineup.
Why did Mogan and Maguire start together in this game?
Don’t you have a central defender with speed and flexibility in your Leicester City team? Do you have to start these two central defenders with overlapping positional attributes? Isn’t the Austrian central defender Dragovic on your bench more capable?
ok?
Of course, Guardiola does not mean that Dragovich is better than the two starters. It is obvious that the two starters are better. But in terms of turning speed and tracking speed, Dragovich
It should be a little bit stronger. In terms of complementarity, Dragovich would be better off partnering with either of the two, right?
Is it because Dragovich has not adapted to the rhythm of the Premier League? Or is it because his ability is not good enough?
Dragovic also performed well in the Bundesliga, right?
Anyway, Guardiola's expression was very solemn at this time. He felt that Leicester City was a bit unlucky in this game. Now that he has seen this problem, can Tong Yi not see it? In this game, Leicester City
Chester City's two central defenders will definitely receive intensive care from Crystal Palace.
In this game, Leicester City is a bit uncertain.
Could it be that Ndidi or Ibora on the defensive midfielder will be withdrawn and he will actually play a five-back?
If that's the case, not bad.
But in this case, Leicester City may only have defensive counterattacks. The offense depends on the attacking four in the front. No wonder there will be four faster players in the frontcourt in this game, including Gray.
Both Mahrez and Mahrez have a certain ability to break through with the ball.
If this is the case, Leicester City may not have a chance in this game.
But to be honest, Guardiola is still a little worried.
At this moment, the referee Atkinson blew the whistle to start the game, and the visiting team Crystal Palace took the first kick.
Crystal Palace launched an attack as soon as they came up, obviously without any intention of testing.
Leicester City has indeed set up a defensive formation. Even at this time, Ndidi retreated behind the two central defenders. This is really a five-back. Ndidi is simply a free man in the defense.
, we have to frequently fill in for Maguire and Mogan, and protect the two behind them.
And it also allowed these two people to intercept and defend head-on without any scruples.
To be honest, at the beginning of the game, Leicester City's defense was really good.
Crystal Palace frequently played behind the two central defenders without much success because Ndidi was wiping their butts behind them. On the contrary, Leicester City had many opportunities to counterattack during this period, just because
Endidi's successful defense, interception or clearance.
Leicester City frequently uses the speed in the frontcourt to attack the crystal crazily.
Palace goal.
Don't tell me, it's really threatening.
At this moment, it was originally a good offensive opportunity for Crystal Palace. Cancelo, who was holding the ball on the wing, saw the huge space behind Maguire. He immediately kicked the ball through and quickly sent the football to the goal.
Behind Maguire, Salah rushed forward quickly.
good chance!
But Ndidi on the opposite side took the lead and stole the football.
The football rolled quickly to the wing. Chilwell on the wing kept the ball and immediately took the ball and passed it long to find the forward player Vardy in front!
The Leicester City fans at the scene instantly became excited. What a great opportunity!
Even the Manchester City fans and Guardiola in front of the TV were brightened. This time is indeed a good opportunity.
Leicester City's counterattack is coming, Crystal Palace is in danger!
At this moment, Rudiger from the Crystal Palace defense quickly rushed out, jumped high, and pushed the football over Vardy's head, making a successful clearance. Leicester City fans were instantly disappointed.
, they all sighed. But the next second, they became happy again.
Because the pushed football flew directly to Gray, Gray stopped the ball with his chest and hastily pushed the football to the wing before Kanter stretched his legs. Albrighton on the wing immediately caught up with the football.
He held the ball and headed towards the Crystal Palace penalty area very quickly.
Leicester City fans were excited again and screamed with excitement.
This is a good opportunity, an excellent opportunity!
It's a pity that Albrighton's shot was a bit hasty. He directly took off his foot and shot into the far corner. The ball drew an arc and slightly missed the far goal.
This goal was really a pity, and even Guardiola howled in pain in front of the TV.
What a great opportunity, why was it wasted?
There are not too many opportunities like this for Leicester City. If you waste one, you will lose one. It's a pity, what a pity.
However, three minutes later, Leicester City once again got a chance to counterattack.
This time it was almost the same as the last time. Ndidi wiped Maguire's butt successfully again, stole the ball, and then passed the ball directly from the backcourt to Albrighton on the wing. Yes, this time he directly found the wing.
On the road, Albrighton immediately broke through with the ball, instantly attracted the Crystal Palace defender, and quickly passed the football across.
The football rolled quickly towards Vardy's feet in the center.
But Van Dijk had already pounced on him, and Vardy couldn't even force a shot, with no success rate.
Therefore, Vardy directly missed the football. This was something Van Dijk did not expect, so he could only watch the football roll past. Danger!
Van Dijk immediately turned around and pounced, but it was too late.
Gray rushed forward and hit the ball with a low shot, whipping the football into the opposite lower corner.
Maignan, who was moving sideways in front of the goal, failed to react in time and fell to the ground sideways without even touching the football. The ball accurately rolled into the blind spot of the Crystal Palace goal.
This chapter has been completed!