Winning the direct dialogue with Manchester City gave Liverpool, who were in the midst of a devilish schedule, a shot in the arm. Everyone's morale was high and they continued to prepare for the next game.
Of course, rotation is still necessary, and Klopp will not think that everyone is an iron man just because everyone's morale is high. Except for Willard, who is a real iron man, has no worries about physical fitness, and will not get injured, the others are not iron men, and they still have to rotate for a while.
On January 17, in the 17th round make-up match of Liverpool VS West Bromwich Albion, which was postponed due to the Club World Cup, Liverpool rotated some players. But regardless of the starting players or the substitute players, everyone's morale is very high, because as long as they can win this game, Liverpool will overtake Manchester City in points and reach the top of the list.
West Bromwich Albion is currently deep in the relegation zone and ranked second from last. Of course, they want to earn points desperately. No matter who the opponent is, they will fight hard. This is the reason why the relegation teams in the second half of the season are not easy to play against.
But against Liverpool, a championship team that aims to overtake the points and reverse Manchester City, the huge strength gap turns West Bromwich Albion's desperate efforts into a meaningless struggle.
In the 13th minute, Velarde used a positional battle to move left and right in a small area at the front of the penalty area, continuously evading the interceptions and blocks of three opposing defenders, and after collaborating with Salah once more, he After dodging the space in the penalty area, he directly kicked off and shot hard from a long distance, hitting a world wave that hit the dead center.
Goalkeeper Foster was helpless and could only watch the ball go into the net.
Liverpool leads 1-0.
After taking the lead, Liverpool became even easier to play. In view of the recent intense schedule and huge consumption of energy, the overall rhythm of the Red Army has also slowed down, allowing those main players who have been fighting continuously to breathe a sigh of relief.
But Willard, who has no worries about his physical fitness, is still running very actively on both offense and defense. Not only does he lead his teammates on the back line to resolve most of the opponent's attacks, but he also leads the offensive players in the frontcourt to continuously attack and break through. The opponent's goal.
In the end, after 90 minutes, the score on the big screen was 4-0. Despite the rotation and despite the slowdown in the pace of the game, Liverpool still achieved a four-goal victory. West Bromwich Albion, who are ranked bottom, cannot pose any threat to the Red Army at Anfield.
As the referee blew the final whistle, all the Red Army players and fans throughout Anfield celebrated wildly.
Because, they finally surpassed Manchester City in points, with a record of 63 points, surpassing Manchester City's 62 points, and reached the top of the Premier League standings. And they still have a make-up game to play. If they win that make-up game, they will lead Manchester City by 4 points.
Liverpool may successfully defend the Premier League title and tie their rival Manchester United for the total number of English top league titles.
Manchester City's performance this season was indeed terrifying. They remained unbeaten throughout the first half of the season. Even Liverpool lost 3-4 in face-to-face matches in the first half of the season. Fortunately, in the second half of the season that just passed, Liverpool won the second round and tied.
Now that the Red Army is at the top of the list, the initiative has fallen to Liverpool, and everyone's confidence in the defending champion has never been higher.
This is also the driving force behind everyone’s frequent matches every three days recently.
On January 20, in the 24th round of the Premier League, Liverpool challenged Swansea away from home.
Swansea is currently ranked last and deep in the relegation zone. This game is at home. Like West Bromwich Albion, they are trying their best to score points.
But Liverpool, with high morale, still resisted. Although the overall state of the game was poor, they still relied on Willard's two goals to take all three points 2-0 away from home.
Therefore, although Manchester City also won this round, Liverpool still leads its opponents by 1 point and continues to rank first.
In the next two games, Liverpool can finally take a rest with a real large-scale rotation.
On January 23, in the second leg of the EFL Cup semi-finals, Liverpool challenged Bristol City away. With Liverpool winning 5-0 in the first leg, Klopp boldly gave almost all the main players a holiday in this game. He only brought with him the physically abnormal Willard, one main player, and other substitutes and youth team players. Players go away to allow the main players to rest.
If he loses this game, Klopp will definitely be labeled as underestimating his opponent and be criticized by the media and fans.
There were no accidents in the game. Although Liverpool, composed of substitutes and youth team players, looked like a rabble, Willard's super personal ability provided strong support to Liverpool on both offense and defense.
In the end, Bristol City, who tried their best to reverse the comeback, scored two goals amidst the cheers of the home fans, but Liverpool also scored two goals. Of course, both goals were scored by Willard, one from a long-distance attack in a sports battle and one from a direct free kick.
After 90 minutes, the two sides tied at 2-2. Liverpool retreated from the away game, defeated their opponents with a score of 7-2 in two rounds, and advanced to the EFL Cup final in the most energy-saving way for the main players.
The main lineup is really well rested.
Four days later, on January 27, in the fourth round of the FA Cup, Liverpool VS West Bromwich Albion at home.
The two sides only played a make-up match in the 17th round of the Premier League ten days ago, also at Anfield. West Bromwich Albion lost 0-4. What's more, West Bromwich Albion is still deep in the relegation zone, so how can they bother to fight for the cup?
The league is their life and death.
Therefore, West Bromwich Albion gave up early in this game, and the starting list announced before the game already showed a giving up attitude. In this way, Liverpool can also make rotations safely and boldly, allowing the main players to continue to rest.
The recent schedule has been too stressful.
Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion, both sides of the game, played poorly and both sides made many mistakes. Fortunately, for Liverpool, they have Willard, who can guarantee victory.
After 90 minutes, the score on the big screen was 3-1. With Willard's hat-trick, Liverpool defeated West Bromwich Albion 3-1 at home and advanced to the next round of the FA Cup.
On January 30, in the 25th round of the Premier League, Liverpool challenged newly promoted Hurstfield away.
As a newly promoted team, Harshfield performed well at the beginning of the season, but their results gradually stabilized and they are still in the lower reaches. They are currently ranked 14th in the standings, but they are only 2 points away from the relegation zone, which is still quite dangerous.
Therefore, facing Liverpool, even though it was a home game, Hasfield also decisively chose to shrink and defend, setting up a big iron barrel formation in the hope that a 1-point draw would be victory.
Facing Liverpool led by Willard, they did not have the courage to take the initiative to attack, and they only wanted a draw to win.
However, Villard has too many offensive methods. Even if he cannot use ground passes to score in the penalty area and shoot, long shots, free kicks, headers in the penalty area, etc., Velarde can do it all.
After 90 minutes, the score on the big screen was 0-4. Willard scored another hat trick and assisted Salah to score the last goal.
In addition, after completing the hat trick in this game, Willard's total goals in Liverpool's official games have also reached the 300-goal mark, becoming the only two players in the history of the Liverpool team with a total goal score exceeding the 300-goal mark.
Another player with more than 300 goals is Ian Rush, the Reds' all-time leading scorer, who scored 346 goals. With Willard's efficiency, it is only a matter of time before he surpasses this senior and becomes the Red Army's all-time top scorer.
