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October 26th, Wednesday. Liverpool travels to Stoke City for the fourth round of the English League Cup this season.

If Liverpool can beat Stoke City, they will reach the quarterfinals, another step closer to the final.

Many wealthy clubs may not value the League Cup, and most of the time they will send youth or reserve team players to participate in the competition. For them, the League Cup mainly serves to train the team, allowing players who have difficulty playing in the first team to get opportunities to play and maintain their form.

But for Liverpool, it's different.

Whether it is Houllier, Benitez, or Kenny Dalglish now, every Liverpool coach values ​​this competition very much.

Because they can't win the league title, they can only rely on winning the League Cup and other competitions to boost morale—Liverpool under Houllier won five championships and was known as the Five Crowns King of that year, which was quite a source of pride.

But in the eyes of many people, these championships, except for the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup, are all just凑数 (còushù – to make up the numbers). Even the Community Shield is counted as a championship, which shows how poor Liverpool has become.

This is like Manchester United saying that they are the Triple Crown winners, and if others ask which three crowns, the result is the "Community Shield, League Cup, and FA Cup", which is simply ridiculous—a dignified wealthy team actually has to use these meaningless chicken rib cup championships to make up the numbers.

Liverpool is doing this out of helplessness because they have always lacked decent and weighty championships. The Five Crowns at least had a UEFA Cup, and then it was not until the summer of 2005 that they reversed AC Milan and lifted the Champions League trophy for the fifth time in history. Since then, there has not been a single championship.

As mentioned earlier, what does the temperament and foundation of a wealthy family depend on? It is the accumulation of championships and honors. Six years without a championship is very dangerous for a wealthy team, which means that the team may roll out of the ranks of wealthy families at any time.

As long as there is a championship, it can still reoccupy the media pages, attract people's attention, and maintain the players' confidence in the team and maintain the team's competitiveness. To avoid the team from falling into a vicious circle of "without a championship, it cannot attract top players, nor can it retain its own excellent players; without top players, it cannot retain its own excellent players, and there is no championship".

Although the League Cup is a chicken rib, the champion is qualified to participate in the UEFA Europa League, which is the former UEFA Cup, which is also a genuine European war qualification.

Wealthy opponents do not pay attention to the League Cup, which gives Dalglish an opportunity to take advantage of it, because the competition in this event will inevitably decline and will not be as intense as the league. If he can win the League Cup, he can not only end the embarrassing record of six years without a title in his hands, but also obtain a qualification to participate in a European competition next season. Not to mention the top four in the league to get Champions League qualification, which is still too far away at present, the League Cup final will be held at the end of February next year, which is short and effective. Once he wins this championship and European qualification, he can also stabilize his precarious position as coach, which is really a good thing with multiple benefits.

Therefore, Dalglish sent out the strongest lineup he could send in two consecutive League Cup matches.

Chen Hero, who had previously run to Italy to date his girlfriend, also continued to appear in the starting list, which surprised some people.

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Those who were surprised thought that Chen Hero was exhausted from his travels and should sit on the bench, and decide whether to play in the second half depending on the situation.

Unexpectedly, Chen Hero started.

Suarez had already known that Chen Hero would start because the boss Dalglish had already announced the starting list internally last night.

Chen Hero and he were both on the list.

After Chen Hero came back, Suarez asked Chen Hero very caringly and gossipy about how he was doing with his girlfriend, as if he really cared about Chen Hero's happiness. In fact, he just wanted to learn more details in order to analyze whether Chen Hero had been affected.

When he heard that Chen Hero and Cabral were constantly shopping and playing in various places, avoiding the tracking of paparazzi, he felt that this trip to Milan should have a certain impact on Chen Hero's state.

Shopping and avoiding paparazzi are both energy-consuming and physically demanding things! For men, the most terrifying thing is shopping with women, and for public figures, the most troublesome thing is that they can encounter reporters no matter where they are...

Chen Hero started, he was very happy, he had a chance to see how Chen Hero was in trouble!

Chen Hero's performance in the first half seemed to confirm what Suarez expected, a bit mediocre.

Stoke City, playing at home, took the lead in the 44th minute with a goal from Togo's fast horse, Kenwyne Jones.

During the halftime break, Dalglish knocked on Chen Hero and told him that he was waiting to see a good show.

Suarez snickered in his heart when he heard that Chen Hero had been criticized by the boss.

Let you run to date! Let you be an air commuter!

He felt more and more that his plan was so perfect... Vigorously supporting and encouraging Chen Hero to be an air commuter to chase girls will have a continuous impact on Chen Hero's state, and the media's lengthy criticisms of him will inevitably affect coach Dalglish's views on him. Over time, Chen Hero will definitely gradually fade out of the main lineup due to various reasons. At that time, he won't even be able to guarantee the main lineup, let alone the core...

At that time, he can take back his own offensive core!

What a brilliant plan! Ah ha ha ha!

Suarez laughed loudly in his heart again.

Liverpool's other teammates were also worried about Chen Hero. Being criticized by the boss was not a good thing.

You see, in the last league match, Suarez didn't pass the ball and had to do it himself, playing around, which messed things up, causing the team not to win Norwich at home. After the match, he was scolded by Dalglish, and he didn't dare to say anything back. In this match, he immediately behaved honestly, shooting when he should shoot, and passing when he should pass, without any ambiguity.

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However, Chen Hero's best thing is to surprise and surprise people...

Less than ten minutes into the second half, Chen Hero scored his second goal in the League Cup!

"Hero! Hero! In the penalty area, he received a pass from Suarez, and he put the ball in!"

"Beautiful goal, Suarez opened up a gap on the wing and passed the ball directly. It was a low ball, Chen Hero quickly appeared in the right position, and then shot with his foot! The ball went in cleanly!"

"Hero finally scored! Before the match, the media were saying that his trip to Milan, Italy, would consume energy and affect his performance... Now, there is no more powerful counterattack than scoring a goal!"

After Chen Hero scored, he went to hug Suarez as usual. Suarez was also depressed as usual—I didn't want to assist him! He is good at heading the ball when I pass a high ball, but how can he put the ball in when I pass a ground ball this time!

What he didn't know was that Chen Hero had practiced off-ball movement with Inzaghi! Finding gaps in dense crowds is no longer a difficult task for him.

After hugging Suarez tightly, Chen Hero let go of the almost suffocated Uruguayan, and then put his right index finger on his lips, making a "shut up" gesture.

This is for the reporters in the media seats to see.

They said before the match that he could not maintain his state, criticized him for not having professional ethics, and blatantly interfered in his private life. Chen Hero is now asking these people to shut up with a goal.

Six minutes later, he felt that one goal seemed to lack persuasiveness. Those who rely entirely on their mouths and pens can say that one goal is luck and nothing surprising.

So he scored another goal.

This time it was not Suarez's assist, but he directly shot from a long distance after抢下球 (qiǎngxià qiú – winning the ball) in the frontcourt. The ball suddenly fell to the ground in front of goalkeeper Sorensen, bounced a bit, and when it jumped up again, the direction changed slightly, and Sorensen had already fallen to the ground to save the ball, his center of gravity was completely gone, and he did not have time to make a second save. He could only watch the ball pass over him and fly into the goal...

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"Oh my god! Hero scores twice!"

"Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful long shot!"

"Liverpool has completed the reversal! Hero's two goals helped them take the lead!"

The commentators were all climaxing.

As for Chen Hero, this time he simply ran to the bottom of the stands where the media seats were located, pointing at them with his left hand and making a gesture of shutting up with his right hand. This is very obvious. This is to go up and slap them in the face!

After slapping the reporters in the face, Chen Hero turned around to greet the teammates who were swarming in.

The Liverpool fans in the stands who followed the team on the course were already cheering...

Dalglish raised his arms and stood on the sidelines, cheering for Chen Hero's goal. Although it is the League Cup, Liverpool and Dalglish are not qualified to despise this cup.

Chen Hero's two goals can help Liverpool win, so of course they are happy.

After this match, it will be the quarterfinals, the quarter-finals.

Liverpool is one step closer to the League Cup final.

All Liverpool people cheered from the bottom of their hearts for Chen Hero's two goals, except for Suarez...

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In the end, relying on Chen Hero's unexpected two goals, Liverpool reversed Stoke City 2:1 on the road, taking a solid step towards their goal.

Chen Hero's sudden outbreak made many English reporters a little different. They seemed unprepared, but for those Chinese reporters who followed from Russia to Italy, and from Italy to England, this was the normal Chen Hero, simply too normal!