Liverpool shrank back to play defense and counterattack. Even though Arsenal knew their plan, they could only grit their teeth and accept it at this point.

If they didn't attack, they would lose. Although attacking also meant a possible loss, it was still just a "possibility" instead of a "certainty."

The former meant they would "certainly" lose.

After Arsenal pressed forward, Ryo Miyaichi's nimbleness gradually became ineffective. He was surrounded by people, and offense and defense turned into frequent physical contact. His physical confrontation ability was too weak.

Arsenal's siege was actually ineffective.

On the contrary, Liverpool's counterattacks were thriving.

Before the end of the first half, Liverpool scored another goal on a counterattack. This time, the goal was scored by Gareth Bale.

The Welsh speedster delivered a scene on the wing that made all the audience's blood boil.

He got the ball in the backfield, pretending to pass it to Chen Hero who was waiting to receive it in front, tricking Arsenal's defenders into shrinking inward. He himself knocked the ball forward, then accelerated with the ball, shaking off Arsenal players who couldn't keep up in a few steps.

Immediately afterward, he faced an Arsenal defender who came up to block him after entering the half. This time, he chose to kick the ball directly ten meters away, forcibly overtaking with his speed, and ultimately successfully surpassing his opponent.

What happened after that was simple—with Chen Hero in the center, Arsenal's defenders didn't dare to act rashly.

Bale didn't pass the ball to Chen Hero; after breaking into the penalty area, he chose to shoot himself.

The ball went into the goal from the far corner. Arsenal goalkeeper Szczęsny couldn't save it and could only watch the ball roll into his goal.

"This is a typical Bale-style goal! Beautiful!"

"An exhilarating goal! Bale brought his speed advantage to the extreme!"

"Arsenal's defense was completely overwhelmed by Bale alone!"

"Of course, don't forget Hero's support in the center, which is also the reason why Bale was able to score so easily—if he hadn't firmly attracted the other Arsenal players in the center, I'm afraid Bale would have been surrounded by layers of them!"

Liverpool's players hugged each other, while Arsenal's players were a little frustrated. Many of them put their hands on their hips and lowered their heads.

Two goals behind, and it was only the first half. Against an opponent like Liverpool, it meant they were only one step away from defeat.

They knew Liverpool's style too well. Leading by one goal was their rhythm, let alone leading by two goals.

※※※

Arsène Wenger stood on the sidelines, watching his team concede two goals to Liverpool in the first half, feeling bitter in his heart.

He really had no choice. To defeat Liverpool, you had to defeat Chen Hero, but defeating Chen Hero was currently a worldwide problem.

He didn't think he could solve it alone.

Last season, he used a defensive tactic and successfully forced a draw with Liverpool at his home stadium. In that game, he kept Chen Hero scoreless.

This was a remarkable achievement and progress.

But Chen Hero's enemies were improving, and Chen Hero himself was also improving.

After that, more and more teams faced Liverpool with a defensive strategy, forcing Liverpool and Chen Hero to upgrade themselves. Moreover, Chen Hero was originally the most powerful weapon to break through a dense defense, so everyone soon discovered that dense defense was useless against Liverpool.

So in this game, Wenger didn't use any dense defense at all.

Instead, he confronted Liverpool head-on, sticking to Arsenal's style of play.

In fact, this result was expected. When he decided to confront Liverpool head-on, he knew what fate his team would face.

But losing the game this way was better than abandoning the team's tradition and defending for ninety minutes, only to still lose the game.

At least after losing the game this way, many people wouldn't blame him, because Arsenal stuck to their style, it was just that there was a huge gap in strength between them and Liverpool.

This was unavoidable.

This season, it seemed that no team in England could stop Liverpool from winning the title. But Wenger firmly believed that Liverpool's state wouldn't last too long. Next season, the season after that, this team would inevitably decline. When that time came, it would be his chance.

What Wenger had to do now was wait patiently.

Anyway, he was a member of the Arsenal club's board of directors. Unless he volunteered to leave Arsenal, no one could drive him away.

He was younger than Ferguson, and he felt that this was his greatest asset—he could afford to wait!

※※※

In the second half, Liverpool continued to play defense and counterattack—which made Arsenal's fans gnash their teeth in hatred, thinking that Liverpool wasn't manly enough. They should have the ability to press forward and confront Arsenal head-on!

Liverpool didn't care what the opposing fans thought; they didn't need to be responsible to these people.

They continued to stick to this defensive counterattack tactic.

In the second half, they scored one goal against Arsenal, and Arsenal also scored one goal against them. It was a pity that Arsenal only scored this one goal…

In the end, Liverpool defeated Arsenal 3:1 away from home.

The league had started for twelve rounds, and they hadn't lost a single game yet. They remained undefeated so far.

How similar it was to last season… but it was even better than last season's performance.

When the league had played twelve rounds last season, Liverpool had already drawn two games. But this time, they had only drawn one game.

The media speculated that if this momentum continued, Liverpool would probably win the league title this season. They would win the league title for two consecutive years.

Being able to win the league title for three consecutive years in a country's league basically meant that this team had created a dynasty of their own.

Manchester United had won three consecutive titles many times, and now it was Liverpool's turn.

It should be known that when Chen Hero shouted at the end of last season that he would win all the titles next season, many people laughed at him.

But now, as the league progressed round by round, many people found that they couldn't laugh anymore.

Liverpool had already won two titles this season, and the league title was almost in Liverpool's pocket. The most difficult thing left was the Champions League.

But since they were able to slaughter the powerful Barcelona in the final, it meant that their strength was now very strong, above Barcelona's.

Being above Barcelona, what was winning a Champions League title?

Everyone calculated back and forth and found that to stop Liverpool, only luck could do it.

If Chen Hero was injured or something, or was killed by an own goal in a game related to the title…

This might allow Liverpool to win fewer titles.

But they didn't realize it. They had always been using the "Seven Crowns" standard to demand and measure Liverpool.

Even if Liverpool lost one or two titles in the end, it would still be a great season for other teams, a great team, and a remarkable achievement.

Just like when Barcelona was pulled down from the La Liga champion throne by Real Madrid, would anyone say that Barcelona was no longer great or powerful?

This was what made those enemies who hated Liverpool the most annoyed and unwilling.

Even if Liverpool lost the title, it wouldn't detract from their greatness. The great revival of a wealthy team was unstoppable!

※※※

In the thirteenth round of the league, Liverpool challenged Stoke City away from home. In this game, Martin O'Neill continued to rotate players, even more so. Of the eleven players who started against Arsenal in the previous game, only goalkeeper Reina and forward Chen Hero were qualified to continue starting, and all the others were replaced.

Relying on such a rotation lineup, Liverpool narrowly won 1:0 against Stoke City away from home.

Chen Hero scored the only goal of the game.

He had scored in every round of the Premier League this season. If the last five rounds of the previous season were included, he had scored in eighteen consecutive league rounds.

And not only that.

In all of Liverpool's games this season, Chen Hero had scored!

This was an even more remarkable achievement.

He had currently scored twenty-four goals in the league, which was already the total number of goals scored by many forwards in a season. He had six goals in the Champions League, six in the League Cup, and none in the FA Cup because it hadn't started yet. He had seven goals in the national team, one in the Community Shield, and three in the European Super Cup. Calculated, he had scored a total of forty-seven goals.

This terrifying number was the best in Europe. He was currently the most prolific goalscorer in Europe. Neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Messi could compare with him.

And Liverpool, relying on such a fully fired Chen Hero, had achieved such brilliant results this season.

"Liverpool is equal to Hero, this equation holds true." After this game, an English media outlet issued such a sigh.

But Liverpool didn't focus their attention on the league.

The Champions League game in the middle of the week was the most important one in the group stage.

Liverpool would face PSV Eindhoven at home.

If they could defeat PSV Eindhoven in this game, they would advance to the next round as the top of the group with one round to spare.

In this way, they could take a breather in the busy December schedule.

Because in December, they were going to Tokyo, Japan, to participate in the FIFA Club World Cup. With long journeys and a dense schedule, Liverpool's December would definitely not be easy.

Work hard now and save some effort later.

If Liverpool failed to secure the top spot in the group one round in advance, it would definitely force them to work hard in the Champions League group stage in December, and the impact would be comprehensive, affecting not only the Champions League, but also the Club World Cup and the league.

Although the English Football Association had taken into account that Liverpool would be playing in the Club World Cup and had postponed the League Cup quarter-final originally scheduled for December to January.

But this didn't mean much to Liverpool.

However, no one doubted that Liverpool would turn the tables at home.

Since they were able to defeat PSV Eindhoven away from home, they would be able to defeat PSV Eindhoven at their home stadium. There was no suspense about this.

So Liverpool was determined to get the top spot in this group.