In the middle of the week, only the top three teams in the Premier League need to play twice a week, why do Manchester City and Liverpool have Premier League games, while Arsenal have Champions League games and other teams have no games? This schedule seems a bit strange, but in fact, the arrangement of the three games is just a coincidence because of different reasons, just centralized.
At 3:30 a.m. Beijing time on Wednesday (February 21), Manchester City hosted Brentford, which was a make-up match for the 18th round of the Premier League, which was postponed due to Manchester City's need to participate in the Club World Cup at that time.
The second leg of the meeting between the two teams was completed two weeks ago, with Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland both providing assists for Foden to score a hat-trick as City secured a big away win. This time to make up for the first leg, it seems that Manchester City will not have a hard time winning. Interestingly, although Manchester City won the title last season, they lost to Brentford home and away, becoming a bit of embarrassment behind the championship.
At 3:30 a.m. Beijing time on Thursday (February 22), Liverpool hosted Luton Town, which was held early for the 26th round of the Premier League, and started early because Liverpool needed to participate in the League Cup final.
However, Chelsea also need to play in the final at the weekend, but the game has been postponed, perhaps because Chelsea have no European assignments and can have more free matchdays, and there are many opportunities to make up for it later.
Liverpool narrowly managed to draw on Luton Town in the first leg thanks to Dias' late goal in stoppage time, while Manchester United had just withstood the pressure on the road to win. Although Luton Town is a promoted horse, they have also lost by one goal against traditional giants such as Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United, including Jota and Jones, who have just been injured, and Liverpool, who are missing many players, need to pay special attention.
At 4:00 a.m. Beijing time on Thursday (February 22), Arsenal challenged Porto away, which was the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. Interestingly, the last time Arsenal qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League was 14 years ago, when they faced Porto.
It has been nine years since Arsenal last won the knockout round of the Champions League, when they beat Monaco but were eliminated due to a lack of away goals in two legs. I believe that many young fans have not seen Arsenal advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Therefore, returning to the Champions League after a long absence, for fans, there seems to be a feeling of dreaming back to the glory of the past, at least coming, and also advancing to the knockout round.
Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal, the three main contenders for the Premier League title, used this coincidence to continue the game in the middle of the week. For Liverpool, who are at the top of the table, the next few games will be played in four games, which is quite difficult. Three weeks later, the summit showdown between Liverpool and Manchester City is even more noteworthy, and at that time, the ownership of the championship may become clear.
In midweek, fans and friends should not miss it, the three top giants, for various reasons, still have games, the big drama is about to be staged, and the good show is still to come.
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