Just as James Jun and Zhang Lu were speaking, the starting lineups for both teams appeared in the center of the broadcast screen.
The home team, Sunderland, was still playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Goalkeeper: Pickford.
Defenders: Oviedo, O'Shea, Lescott, Billy Jones.
Defensive Midfielders: Larsson, Cattermole.
Attacking Midfielders: Borini, Januzaj, Khazri.
Striker: Defoe.
This lineup was basically the most attacking combination of players Coach Zhao could field.
Meanwhile, Swansea's Coach Clement deployed a 4-3-1-2 formation.
Goalkeeper: Lukasz Fabianski.
Defenders: Olsen, Mawson, Fernández, Naughton.
Midfielders: Carroll, Britton, Ki Sung-yueng.
Attacking Midfielder: Sigurdsson.
Strikers: Llorente, Jordan Ayew.
"For Sunderland's starting lineup, Chinese fans who follow Coach Zhao should be very familiar with it," James Jun commented.
"When Coach Zhao uses this lineup, it means he is determined to win the match."
"Of course, today is a crucial relegation battle, and it's at Sunderland's home ground, so Coach Zhao definitely wants to secure all three points."
"And if we look at Swansea, they actually have many notable players as well."
"Goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski is the Polish national goalkeeper and also a former Arsenal player."
"Among the attacking trident, the attacking midfielder is Sigurdsson, known as the 'Icelandic Sniper,' who helped the Icelandic national team historically reach the quarterfinals in the 2016 European Cup."
"The two strikers are Llorente, a Spanish tall center-forward who was once a Juventus player, and Ayew, the captain of the Ghana national team, who came from Marseille's youth academy."
"Of course, in Swansea's midfield, there's also a player our Chinese fans are quite familiar with, and that's our old opponent, the captain of the South Korean national team, Ki Sung-yueng."
"He landed in Europe in 2009 and has already played five seasons for Swansea."
"It's worth mentioning that he was briefly on loan at Sunderland during the 2013-2014 season, so today can be considered a battle against his former club."
At this point, Zhang Lu sighed with emotion:
"It's truly moving to see South Korean players playing as starters in a high-level League like the Premier League."
"Including Son Heung-min of Tottenham, who has scored over a dozen goals this season and has already established himself in such a strong team."
"Japanese players are actually the same; Maya Yoshida is also a starter at Southampton, and Shinji Okazaki even helped Leicester City win the League title last season!"
"And us? It's been many years since the last Chinese player, Sun Jihai, was a starter in the Premier League…"
James Jun chuckled:
"Fortunately, we now have Coach Zhao Zhao in the Premier League."
"Although we are indeed not as good as Japan and South Korea in terms of players, Coach Zhao should be the first Coach in Asian football history to manage a club in one of the top five European Leagues, right?"
"Anyway, Japanese and Koreans watch the Premier League to see Shinji Okazaki and Son Heung-min, while we watch Coach Zhao!"
"Recently in China, Sunderland's popularity has soared, and there are even dedicated sections for Sunderland on Dongqiudi and Zhibo8."
"You know, for a period, Bayern Munich's section could only be found under 'Other,' hahahaha… Just kidding."
"Oh, looking at it this way, today's match can also be considered a unique East Asian Derby!"
Zhang Lu: "Heh heh."
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While the two were talking, the match had already begun.
In the first ten to twenty minutes after kickoff, the game was somewhat deadlocked.
Swansea, playing away, didn't rush into attack at first, but rather focused on solid defense and probing Sunderland's strengths and weaknesses.
And the three defensive midfielders Swansea fielded today, whether it was Carroll, Britton, or Ki Sung-yueng, were all players capable of running and tackling.
With their coordinated runs and connections, Swansea's four lines remained very compact, leaving little space, which made it difficult for Sunderland to pass through the midfield with their possession play.
In terms of attack, Swansea naturally relied heavily on Sigurdsson's orchestration.
The Icelander could provide support to the strikers Llorente and Jordan Ayew with his passes, and also use his long-range shots to test the opponent.
As for Sunderland, their defense was actually quite good.
After all, the defensive line composed of Oviedo, O'Shea, Lescott, and Billy Jones, although lacking in attacking ability, could still maintain solid defense and reasonable ball distribution thanks to their rich experience, leaving few gaps for the opponent.
And the two defensive midfielders, Larsson and Cattermole, consistently provided excellent protection for the backline, quickly filling in any spaces created by the opponent's runs.
This meant that even though Swansea's trident had good individual abilities, they found it very difficult to find a way to break through Sunderland's defense for a while.
Both sides defended well, and neither immediately pushed forward with a full-scale attack, so the two teams mostly battled in the midfield, occasionally threatening the opponent's goal with long-range shots.
As a result, Coach Zhao also unconsciously walked to the sideline.
Although he had great confidence in himself and his team, and asked his players to relax, his mood today…
It was indeed different from the previous few matches!
In previous games, even with strong teams like Manchester United and Manchester City, and tough opponents like Leicester City, he had simulated them, so he had a good idea of what to expect.
Today could be said to be his first real match without a "save file," it was a one-time event!
And judging from the game's start, Swansea was indeed not an easy opponent to crush; they were quite difficult to deal with.
This uncertainty about the future made Coach Zhao's heart feel a slight tension.
This was truly human nature.
Let alone a world-class League like the Premier League, even in a township-level amateur League, if you're a part of it and watching from the sidelines, you'll feel nervous and excited.
Of course, even though he stood on the sideline, Coach Zhao still had to "maintain his persona."
He didn't shout loudly at the field or show any signs of anxiety.
It was just that as the match progressed, Coach Zhao's lips would constantly tremble, speaking some encrypted language—Chinese:
"Januzaj, hurry up and run wide, then cut inside! Sweep it in front of the goal, sweep it in front of the goal!"
"Hey, Defoe, why did you shoot that ball instead of passing?! Oh—well, that works too. We got a corner kick, heh heh!"
"How was that a foul? He didn't even touch him, did he? Bad referee! Definitely a bad referee!"
"Huh? Sigurdsson's coming over, tackle him! Damn it, how did he dribble past him? It's over, it's over, it's over…"
"Pickford! Great save!"
"Pickford! My Superman!"