From the man behind the football king to the football king.

Chapter 669 Confrontation
However, Liverpool still has Robertson. The 24-year-old Liverpool left-back, together with his partner, Liverpool's talented right-back Arnold, is one of the important factors for Liverpool's outstanding performance this season.

If Liverpool's offensive trident is the sharpest spear to defeat the enemy, then the full-back combination of Arnold and Robertson can be said to be the engine of Liverpool's offense.

Unlike Manchester United, which has a super all-around midfielder like Bruno, several players in Liverpool's midfield tend to play the role of blue-collar midfielders, so the Red Army's attack is more launched from the two flanks.

Liverpool's right-back Arnold's cross accuracy is unprecedented. No matter how far away, whether the ball is moving or not, Arnold can accurately find his teammates in the penalty area. Arnold can send 7.12 crosses per game, which continues to test the opponent's defense.

Compared to Arnold, left-back Robertson is more comprehensive. In addition to passing, Robertson can also help the team in other aspects.

Robertson is faster than Arnold and can often sprint into the final third with the ball himself, or quickly dribble around to receive a pass.

Robertson's physical condition is also better than Arnold's, which can better reflect his value when facing tough opponents. His strong body allows him to maintain balance even when dribbling at high speed. Although Robertson's dribbling is not at the best level, it is enough for him to protect the ball.

For example, at this moment, when Mbappe made a breakthrough, people saw that Robertson was very fast and almost on par with Mbappe.

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"It's only because Robertson is fast that other full-backs would have to eat dust behind Mbappe." Zhang Lu laughed.

As he was speaking, Mbappe suddenly stopped and dribbled the ball.

Robertson slammed on the brakes, but there was no one he could defend closely.

"Mbappe passes the ball! Harry Kane! Beautiful header! The ball goes in! Six minutes into the game, Manchester United takes the lead away from home at Anfield!"

Koulibaly made a mistake in predicting where the ball would land, and after being squeezed out by Harry Kane, he could only watch the England center head the ball into the goal.

After scoring the goal, Harry Kane excitedly rushed to the sidelines to celebrate. Bruno and others also surrounded him, patted Harry Kane on the shoulders and hugged him. It was quite lively.

As sworn enemies, goals scored by Manchester United players at Anfield often have extraordinary significance.

Mourinho waved his arms vigorously on the sidelines and cheered for the goal.

Klopp gritted his teeth and looked at the field in silence.

In the stands at Anfield, Henry II had a gloomy expression.

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1:0, Manchester United got off to a dream start away from home and Mourinho was in a very good mood.

However, just three minutes later, Mourinho frowned because Manchester United failed to maintain their one-goal lead and Liverpool quickly scored to equalize the score.

What was wrong with Manchester United's defense? That wasn't the case. Liverpool's goal was a reflection of the individual abilities of the players.

In the 24th minute, Fabinho made a lob pass, and Mane, who was unguarded, chested the ball and volleyed it in front of the small penalty area. The football drew a beautiful arc, bypassing the people in the penalty area and the fingers of Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea, and went straight into the blind spot in the upper right corner of the goal.

It was that simple, a long shot without any warning led to a goal.

Mourinho wanted to curse but didn't know who to curse. There was no way to complain about such a brutal goal.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!"

"Mane's world wave!"

“1:1! Mane’s shot brings the two sides back to a tie!”

The cheers at Anfield were deafening.

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The score of 1:1 was like breaking the shackles on their bodies, and both sides had to become passionate.

Mourinho was not satisfied with an away draw, as it was equivalent to a 6-point game against his biggest rival.

If Manchester United can win away from home, they can extend their lead to 5 points.

The Premier League is about to enter the Christmas devil schedule. If Manchester United can expand their advantage at this time, it will have a great advantage in the subsequent schedule.

Therefore, Mourinho’s instruction to the team is to strive to win away games.

As for Liverpool, the 1:1 draw prevented them from narrowing the gap with Manchester United.

Liverpool people know better than anyone how well Manchester United has performed in the past few seasons. If they miss this opportunity, Liverpool may not be able to turn the tide this season.

This sense of crisis forces Liverpool to strive to win.

Both sides completely let go, attacking in and out, and sparks flying everywhere.

Bruno suddenly took a long shot from outside the penalty area, and the quality of the shot was extremely high. Fortunately, Alisson was very focused and punched the ball out with both fists. Facing Bruno's heavy artillery, he didn't dare to hold the ball directly with both hands, for fear of losing it.

Then, outside the penalty area, Kante intercepted the ball and passed it to Fred, who passed it to the side. Bruno's left foot made another arc, and the ball almost flew out of the bottom line along the outside of the post and hit the side net.

Bruno shot twice in a row, making Liverpool players sweat. Klopp jumped around anxiously on the sidelines, shouting loudly and pushing his hands forward, meaning to push the defense line out and not let the opponent get so close to the penalty area.

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Liverpool began to push their defense forward, suppressing Manchester United's offensive.

Manchester United's attack had just ended when Liverpool's counterattack came. Alisson kicked the ball out of the goal, and Salah stopped the ball in the frontcourt. Although Luke Shaw pulled and tugged, the ball was still firmly controlled by Salah.

The Greek player kicked the ball to Keita who came over to receive it and turned and ran forward.

Keita took the ball sideways and attracted Manchester United's defensive attention, but suddenly passed the ball to Fabinho behind him.

The Brazilian had good passing skills and he made a direct over-the-top pass to the right.

Salah dribbled the ball along the right side, Luke Shaw was left behind by Salah, and Van Dijk had to come out to defend.

Seeing Van Dijk being brought out, Salah immediately passed the ball.

In the penalty area, Firmino was held back by Maguire and couldn't turn around. However, Firmino was not the kind of person who could break the opponent's goal by himself. When he was blocked, he passed the ball back to Wijnaldum who came in from behind.

The Dutch midfielder followed up with a powerful shot and almost broke through the goal guarded by De Gea.

Although there was no goal, the Liverpool fans at Anfield still applauded and cheered the Dutch midfielder.

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Although Liverpool's attack was strong, Manchester United was not easily defeated and they soon launched a counterattack. Mbappe got the ball on the right, suddenly cut inside, dodged Fabinho's block, and shot hard.

Alisson saved Mbappe's shot and held the ball firmly under his body, giving Harry Kane no chance to make a follow-up shot.

Alisson then threw the ball to start a quick counterattack. Fabinho made a long pass to Firmino, who headed the ball back.

Salah took the ball and tried to get past Van Dijk, but was spotted by the Dutch center back who successfully intercepted the ball.

"Nice steal! Salah's bicycle kick didn't fool the opponent, but the opponent stole the ball directly."

Van Dijk passed the ball to Luke Shaw, who took the ball and started to run. Firmino caught up with him, and the two struggled for more than ten meters before Firmino dragged Luke Shaw to the ground.

The referee blew the whistle, calling a foul on the Brazilian and showing Firmino a yellow card.

There was thunderous applause in the stands of Anfield Stadium. They really liked Firmino like this.

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Facing Manchester United's active attack, Liverpool began to stabilize their defense.

Liverpool's defense has been excellent this season, conceding only 16 goals in the first 6 rounds. It is the only team among the 20 Premier League teams whose goals conceded are still in single digits.

Even looking at the top five leagues, Liverpool is the team with the most solid defense.

Faced with Liverpool's full retreat, Manchester United found it difficult to come up with any good offensive means for a while, but Liverpool's counterattack was very effective.

There was a dead ball opportunity and Mourinho called Bruno to the sidelines.

"There are too many people in the penalty area, and Liverpool's defense is difficult to penetrate. You and Rashford are both good at long-range shots, so try more long-range shots and force Liverpool to press out to block your long-range shots. After the opponent's formation is pulled apart, see if you can find opportunities and space."

Bruno nodded to show that he understood. He also realized that facing Liverpool's compact defense, it would be difficult for the team to open up the situation from the middle. As for the wings, Lovren and Koulibaly's headers were good, especially Koulibaly, whose judgment of the landing point was simply amazing today.

"Also, tell Kane and the others that when you shoot from long range, they should be ready to make a follow-up shot."

Bruno understood immediately. In the pre-match meeting, Mourinho told about Alisson's example of showing off his skills in the penalty area and sometimes making mistakes like butter hands. According to data analysis, Manchester United's coaching staff found that Alisson's saves for long shots sometimes slipped out of his hands, or even made mistakes like butter hands, which was a hidden danger for Liverpool's goal.

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The game continued and Manchester United launched an attack in the frontcourt.

Keita made a beautiful tackle to keep the ball from Fred, and Liverpool launched a quick counterattack. Clyne made a rare and very good pass from the wing. If Firmino and Salah had not rushed together and shot too high, Manchester United would have lost the ball again.

"Oh! That was a close call! Firmino stole Salah's shooting opportunity. He should have given the ball to Salah." Andy Gray said.

Mourinho was also shocked, and then he roared on the sidelines. He was very dissatisfied with the defense of the team's right back Cancelo, who failed to press Klein in time, giving the opponent an easy chance to kick the ball in.

(End of this chapter)