The next day, New Year's Day 2017, Liverpool fortunately did not have a game. You can watch at home the teams that have games today to stage a New Year's showdown for everyone.
At the same time, in the media on this day, media from various countries also extensively reported the news that Willard’s total goals for the year were fixed at 132 goals, as well as the news that Liverpool became the Premier League half-time champion.
"Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-1 at home to seal the half-time championship!" 》
"Villad's 132 goals in the year shocked the world! 》
"2016 is the year of Alan Willard in world football! 》
"Winner of the Ballon d'Or, with a total of 132 goals in the year, Willard defined football in 2016! 》
"With a total of 132 goals in the year, Velarde can no longer be called the football king. The football god may be more suitable for him!" 》
The total number of goals scored in the year was 132, which really shocked many people, including many viewers and readers who did not watch football, who were shocked by this overwhelming news.
Even if you don't watch football, you know how terrifying it is to score more than 100 goals in a year.
After all, when Messi scored 91 goals in 2012, he was already called an unsurpassable miracle. Unexpectedly, Willard not only surpassed Messi and broke the three-digit mark of 100 goals, but also raised the annual total goal record to 132.
Such amazing efficiency has really made many ordinary people who didn't care about football before start to pay attention to football and become fans, expanding the influence of football among the ordinary people.
Although there are still some shortcomings in honors and qualifications, with a record of 132 goals scored this year, Velarde is enough to rival the ball king and become a near-ball king.
Messi has already won five Ballon d'Or awards, various league championships, cup championships, Champions League championships, Golden Boot awards, annual six-time champions, etc., and he only needs the World Cup championship to become a god. Can become the third world champion after Pele and Maradona.
But Willard, with his unparalleled personal data, came from behind and has the momentum to become the king. As long as this is not a flash in the pan, he continues to perform like this in the next two years, and then wins the World Cup in 2018. Maybe Messi and Velarde will win the championship at the same time, and Argentina will become a transitional country with three world champions, replacing Brazil and becoming A new football kingdom.
There were two games on New Year's Day. Tottenham defeated Watford 4-1 at home, and Arsenal defeated Crystal Palace 2-0 at home. Finally, there was no dull 0-0 draw. Except for the loser, the audience was all excited. Quite satisfactory.
Then, on January 2, the second half of the Premier League started again in full swing. This is the Premier League's New Year's Day schedule. There are games every day anyway. It is bound to firmly seize the fans' free time during the holidays, so that those fans who have other leagues on holiday and have no games to watch can spend time during the New Year's Day holiday. Feast your eyes.
The sacrifice is, of course, the New Year's holiday for the players and coaches, but no matter how the players and coaches protest or communicate, the Premier League has, as always, adhered to the policy of not having a winter break.
The Premier League wants to take a holiday during the winter break, which is a bit unrealistic for the next ten or twenty years.
Of course, the games will not all be concentrated on the 2nd. For example, Tottenham, Arsenal, etc., who only played on the 1st, will move to the 3rd and 4th.
Those who play on the 2nd are teams like Liverpool who played before the 1st.
The 19th round of the league will be played on December 31st, and the 20th round of the league will be played on January 2nd, with only New Year's Day in between. This kind of schedule can really only appear in the Premier League.
But there is no other way. We are already in it and we can only accept this schedule. Moreover, Liverpool now has Villard, who is extremely physical and can attack and defend well. In fact, this kind of schedule can still take some advantage.
At 16:00 on the afternoon of January 2, 2017, with the referee's whistle, Liverpool's away game against Sunderland in the 20th round of the 2016/2017 Premier League season officially started at Sunderland's home stadium, the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland is currently ranked third from the bottom in the standings, in the relegation zone, weak and a standard scorer.
But what is surprising is that in this game, Sunderland broke out with unparalleled fighting power in the light rain.
In particular, Sunderland goalkeeper Mannone was like a goalkeeper in this game. He made more than ten effective saves in the game, preventing Willard and his teammates from threatening shots within the goal frame. He made a save and was given the same highest score as Velarde by the media after the game: 10 points.
At the same time, Sunderland's offensive line also caused a penalty kick in the 25th minute and scored it, and then in the 74th minute of the second half, a cross from the wing resulted in an own goal from center back Lovren, scoring twice. The gates of Liverpool.
Even Willard was helpless with this kind of goal, unable to predict and defend it.
Fortunately, Velarde, who was close to the system plug-in, was superior after all. Not only did he assist Mane to score a goal in the 35th minute, but he also scored two goals in the 12th minute and the 91st minute. , scored twice and helped Liverpool beat Sunderland 3-2 away from home, barely getting off to a good start in the first game of the New Year.
Especially for the ball in the 91st minute, Sunderland had all their players back on defense and started to set up their buses to defend. Coupled with the drizzling weather and slippery venue, Liverpool, who played two games in three days, were in poor condition. Sunderland thought they were going to successfully draw with the powerful Liverpool and get a precious point on the road to relegation. .
In the end, Willard stood up. In the 91st minute, he received an air pass from his teammate and shot a volley from outside the penalty area, heading straight for the dead center of the goal.
This kick soared around the world, and the speed after the game was as high as 128 kilometers per hour. Goalkeeper Mannone, who performed well throughout the game, finally failed to save Sunderland's goal this time and could only watch the ball go into the net.
Although Sunderland lost, their performance in this game won the respect of everyone, including their opponents. Both Sunderland fans and Liverpool away fans in the stands applauded Sunderland for their outstanding performance.
Willard took the initiative to approach Mannone and expressed his desire to exchange jerseys. Mannone, who was originally a little depressed because of the loss, suddenly became happy.
At least, they didn't lose games and people.
Of course, for Liverpool, getting a good start in the first game of the new year, although the process is a bit difficult, the result is good.
Moreover, what makes Liverpool even more happy is that in the last game of this round on January 4, Chelsea, which ranked second in the standings, lost 0-2 to Tottenham Hotspur, and was further strengthened by Liverpool. The points difference.
After the first 20 rounds, Liverpool ranked first in the standings with 57 points with 19 wins, zero draws and one loss. Chelsea, in second place, only had 49 points, which was a full 8-point gap behind Liverpool.
With such a points gap and Liverpool's terrifying goal difference, Chelsea can only win the championship if they surpass Liverpool in points. It is useless to tie the points.
In other words, Liverpool now has almost three games of fault tolerance, which is a great advantage as we enter the second half of the season, when the schedule is getting tighter and the games are becoming more and more important.
The possibility of Liverpool winning the first Premier League title in team history is getting bigger and bigger.
