Star Card System

On January 2, 2016, Leicester City ushered in the first game of the new year, playing against Bournemouth at home.

But unexpectedly, Vardy was injured and left the field at the beginning, disrupting Ranieri's layout.

At the end of the first half, De Laet pulled a foul in the penalty area and received a second yellow card.

Red card plus penalty kick, Leicester City completely fell to the bottom.

De Laet was in a low mood after leaving the field, and Ranieri patted his shoulder comfortingly.

Because Fox was affected by the flu, De Laet returned to the starting lineup.

But the performance in these two games was simply like a disaster.

In the last game, he failed to defend Aguero and was equalized by the opponent.

In this game, he directly received the second yellow card, was sent off, and gave the opponent a penalty kick.

In the end, Leicester City played 10 against 11 in this game, and had no choice but to tie again 3 to 3.

A wave of bad four consecutive draws put Leicester City in trouble.

They had a clear advantage in the league, but now they are about to be surpassed by the pursuers behind them.

Arsenal, ranked second, is only three points behind them; Tottenham, ranked third, is only five points behind.

If it weren't for the downturn of Manchester City and Liverpool, Leicester City's hope of winning the championship might have been completely crushed.

But even so, they are in danger.

Will they fall all the way from the middle of the season to lose the top four position like last season?

Fortunately, the devil's Christmas schedule is over, and the team has a short break. They have eight days to rest.

In the next period of time, Leicester City's stadium will be slightly calmer, and the schedule will not be so intensive.

On January 10, the third round of the FA Cup will be played away against Tottenham.

On January 14, the 21st round of the Premier League, another away game against Tottenham.

On January 17, the 22nd round of the Premier League, away game against Aston Villa.

On January 23, the 23rd round of the Premier League, home game against Stoke City.

On January 30, the fourth round of the FA Cup, away to Colchester United.

Although there is not a very dense schedule, it is about to usher in a three-line battle.

And the Champions League knockout rounds in February are also coming. Leicester City must strive for league points during this period to continue to consolidate its top position.

Facing the current situation, Ranieri reiterated his strategy.

Strategic training domestic cup competitions!

In fact, he had talked about this topic with the players a few months ago.

Although Leicester City has won two FA Cup championships in a row, Ranieri is still not interested in this.

His goal this season is to achieve good results in the league and the Champions League, and domestic cup competitions are not important.

In fact, it cannot be said that it is not important, but Ranieri does not have so many trump cards.

Although Leicester City has a large lineup this season, the strength gap between the main players and the substitutes is still not small.

Especially important main players such as Kante, Vardy, Mahrez, Morgan, etc., almost all do not have strong rotation candidates.

Of course, Xia Xing, who has super physical fitness, is a special case...

In this case, it is impossible and unrealistic to compete for the championship on multiple fronts.

Ranieri knows it very well.

So in the two cup games in January, he arranged for substitutes and young players to play.

But there are still main players on the list.

Xia Xing!

For Xia Xing, who has super physical fitness, he hopes to play more games.

He doesn't want to give up the FA Cup and League Cup!

Even though Ranieri repeatedly reminded him and suggested that he take a proper rest, Xia Xing still insisted on playing.

In the end, Ranieri could only let him go.

Ranieri thought that with multiple substitutes on the field, Leicester City would probably not go too far.

Since Xia wants to play, let him play.

On January 10, at the White Hart Lane Stadium, Leicester City played against Tottenham as a guest.

In this game, Xia Xing wore the captain's armband again.

Today, Tottenham played with all the main players.

Facing this Leicester City team that was almost entirely substitutes, Tottenham was full of fighting spirit.

For them, the league gap of only 5 points behind is not big, and they can catch up with a little effort.

Although this game is just a cup game, Tottenham is looking forward to boosting the morale of the team through this victory.

After all, the two sides will meet in the Premier League in four days. If they can win at that time, then they will be within reach of the top position.

This season, many giants are weak, and the two teams from London are also looking forward to the top of the league. It is a great opportunity.

From the first minute of this game, Tottenham pressed Leicester City with all their strength.

The 4-2-3-1 formation is very sharp, with Harry Kane rushing forward, and behind him are the talented offensive players Eriksen, Ali and Lamela.

These three are talented and are an important combination for Tottenham's outstanding performance this season.

Behind them, there are also stable Dale and Carroll.

From the perspective of paper strength, this lineup is far superior to Leicester City's lineup today.

In this game, Leicester City's frontcourt is a combination of Shinji Okazaki and Ulloa, which is good, but cannot be compared with Tottenham.

In the midfield, Xia Xing's partners today are Inler, Andy King and Albrighton.

Compared with the main lineup of Kante, Mahrez, Drinkwater, etc., it is indeed a level down.

Except for Albrighton's active running on the left side, which made great contributions on both offense and defense, the other two performed mediocrely.

We tried hard to defend in the first half, but we still lost the ball before the end of the half.

In the 44th minute of the game, Spurs counterattacked, and Eriksen made a wonderful diagonal pass straight into the penalty area!

Harry Kane squeezed Chilwell and scored a low shot in the penalty area!

1-0!

Spurs scored the first goal!

In front of the British star, the 19-year-old English brother was powerless.

In the second half, Spurs still attacked swiftly.

In order to defend Harry Kane, Inler moved back and participated in the defense as much as possible to assist Chilwell.

For a time, the connection between Tottenham's midfield and frontcourt was cut off.

Ali's shot outside the penalty area hit the post and almost expanded the score advantage.

In the 75th minute of the game, Spurs made a substitution adjustment.

They were ready to continue the attack.

At the moment of personnel change, Xia Xing seized the opportunity!

A cross from the side accurately found Shinji Okazaki who was advancing!

The Japanese striker shot in front of the goal and the ball scored!

Asian connection, successfully scored!

1 to 1!

Leicester City saw the hope of promotion again!

In the 86th minute of the game, Xia Xing made another cross pass to Andy King who was advancing.

Although Andy King's shot was high, because he was pulled by the opponent's midfielder Dale before, Leicester City got a free kick in the frontcourt.

Standing in front of the ball, Xia Xing took a deep breath.

Looking at the direction of the goal.

I took the initiative to play in the cup match, and I also wore the captain's armband, so I must go all out!

I must win this game!

Slowly retreat and run up!

Shoot!

The ball was powerful and heavy, and an arc cut through the night sky of White Hart Lane!

Going around the goalkeeper Lori's ten fingers!

Going straight to the upper right corner of the goal!

The ball went in!

2 to 1!

Xia Xing scored the winning goal!