I think Sunderland definitely won't win this match today."
On Sunday, in the Sky Sports live broadcast studio, a group of football legends were discussing the upcoming match between Sunderland and Leicester City.
Among them were former England starting forward Gary Lineker, former Manchester United right-back Gary Neville, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, and former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer.
The one who spoke these words was Gary Neville, known for his big mouth.
Under normal circumstances, Sky Sports would not choose a match with low appeal like Sunderland vs. Leicester City among the simultaneous evening games.
Although there were no strong matchups tonight, even broadcasting Burnley vs. Manchester United, Liverpool vs. Crystal Palace, or Manchester City vs. West Bromwich Albion would feature more star players than these two teams, wouldn't they?
The main reason was that Sunderland had been gaining too much momentum recently.
Consecutive victories over the Manchester City and Manchester United, coupled with a shocking 9-0 massacre, had already pushed Sunderland and Zhao Zhao into the spotlight.
Therefore, Sky Sports specifically chose this match as the main event for tonight and invited a group of England football legends to comment on it.
Hearing Gary Neville's words, Gary Lineker, as the host, retorted, "Gary, what is your judgment based on?"
Gary Neville immediately spoke eloquently:
"Although Sunderland has achieved three consecutive victories, if you carefully study the process, you can see that they are actually a team based on defense."
"There's no need to mention playing Manchester City; they defended throughout and only launched a sneak attack at the last moment. It was the same against Manchester United; they only launched a full-scale counterattack after a player was sent off. Even against the weaker Middlesbrough, they still defended first!"
"But today's opponent is different. Leicester City can be said to be the most resolute counter-attacking team in the entire Premier League, and in terms of the overall ability of their players, they are stronger than Sunderland."
"Leicester City's success last season has already proven their deep mastery of defensive counter-attacks, and Vardy is naturally suited to this style of play."
"Although there has been some decline this season, their strength is still there; otherwise, they wouldn't have reached the quarterfinals in the Champions League. It can even be said that precisely because they were more motivated to perform in the Champions League, it dragged down their League performance."
"Moreover, Leicester City is playing away today, and the points needed for relegation are not too many, so it can be expected that their tactics today will definitely be a strong defensive counter-attack again."
"So, with Sunderland's strength, do they really have the ability to break open Leicester City's goal in a positional attack? I highly doubt it."
At this point, Jamie Carragher expressed a different opinion:
"From the previous three matches, Sunderland's young Chinese Coach Zhao Zhao seems to have something special."
"I won't talk about his preemptive moves; the media has already talked them to death recently. Just talking about his tactics, I feel they are quite rich."
"He can make his team completely retreat and park the bus, or he can play fast and efficient counterattacks, and at the same time, he can control the ball and play decent possession-based football."
"It can be said that precisely because of Zhao Zhao's tactical choices and changes, he has been able to achieve such good results recently, giving Sunderland hope for relegation."
"This also fills all Sunderland fans with hope for the future. Today's Stadium of Light is completely packed, and there are slogans everywhere supporting the team and Zhao Zhao. The boost to team morale from this cannot be ignored."
"So I think, for today's match, I am still optimistic about Zhao Zhao and his Sunderland, mainly because of Coach Zhao Zhao."
"The Coach is still very important to a team, don't you agree, Gary?"
Neville and Jamie Carragher could be said to be old rivals.
During their playing days, they were opponents from the rival teams Manchester United and Liverpool. After retiring and becoming football commentators, they particularly enjoyed contradicting each other.
Jamie Carragher's last sentence was clearly aimed at mocking Neville.
Around the winter transfer window last season, Neville temporarily put aside his commentary duties and went to Spain to serve as Valencia's Coach.
But unfortunately, it proved that he was not cut out for it.
Under his leadership, Valencia only achieved 3 victories in 16 La Liga matches, securing only 14 points, directly plummeting into the relegation zone.
In addition, the team was successively eliminated from the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, and it can be said that their record was disastrous.
So, after only four months in office, Neville was fired and could only return to continue as a commentator…
Neville, hearing Jamie Carragher say this, of course knew what he meant.
He glared directly at Jamie Carragher, about to retort, but was interrupted by Gary Lineker.
This former England striker was also experienced in hosting, knowing that once these two rivals started bickering, it would truly be endless.
He turned to Alan Shearer: "Alan, what do you think?"
Shearer was also a legendary striker for the England National Team and the all-time leading scorer in the Premier League.
He tended to speak less emotionally as a commentator, and this time was no different.
He cleared his throat and said:
"This is how I see it. In terms of overall team strength, Leicester City is undoubtedly stronger than Sunderland."
"Whether it's Vardy and Mahrez in the attack, Drinkwater and Andy King in the midfield, or even goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, they are all stronger than their counterparts in Sunderland."
"And in terms of coaching ability, Zhao Zhao and Shakespeare are actually very similar; both took over as interim Coaches after the previous Coach was fired, and then were made permanent."
"But looking at the past few rounds of matches, Zhao Zhao still has his unique qualities in on-field command, and even Guardiola praised him as a coaching genius. Shakespeare, on the other hand, is relatively mediocre; the system he uses is actually what Ranieri left behind."
"So, from this perspective, Zhao Zhao's coaching ability might be stronger than Shakespeare's. Plus, Sunderland is playing at home, which is also a huge advantage."
"Therefore, all things considered, the outcome of this match is very difficult to predict, and any score is possible!"
While Shearer was speaking in front of the camera, Neville behind him had already started arguing with Jamie Carragher:
"Let's make a bet. Whoever's team wins, the loser has to buy supper!"
The two were speaking in hushed voices, and Gary Lineker just smiled, then picked up where Shearer left off, addressing the camera in the broadcast studio:
"Alright, the starting lineups for both teams have now been displayed on the broadcast screen, and the match is about to begin."
"Sunderland is lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, so it seems they are truly preparing for a strong attack at home."
"Oh, why is Anichebe the starting center forward? Not Defoe?"
"I remember Defoe was in the previously released lineup, why did it suddenly change? Did something unexpected happen?"