Football: My AI System Provides Max-Level Predictions

The time quickly moved to August 23, 2015.

The five major leagues have all reignited the flames of battle, and the first round of the Premier League begins!

The Premier League, after careful consideration, advanced the kick-off of the opening match of the Premier League to 12:30 local time.

Manchester City VS Tottenham Hotspur!

Manchester City, the Blue Moon, plays their first Premier League away game, and their first-round opponent is the London powerhouse, Tottenham Hotspur.

The Premier League made this arrangement, naturally, to maximize traffic.

Manchester City, who ranked second in the Premier League last season, is determined to win the championship this season.

They spent 200 million in the transfer market, lavishly grabbing players like Tang Long, Ranocchia, Sterling, Otamendi, Delph, and others, their immense financial power shaking the British Isles!

From Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and other championship contenders to Sunderland, Hull City, Burnley, and other relegation teams, all cast sidelong glances at Manchester City, and the hostile looks at the Blue Moon can't conceal the inner sense of crisis.

Tottenham Hotspur is not to be outdone this summer. Ranked fifth last season, their bottom line goal for this season is to enter the top four of the league.

Tottenham's owner, Levi, although not as bold as the Abu Dhabi Group, still solidly spent over 100 million euros to bring in stars like Son Heung-min, Gualin, Alderweireld, Njie, Vermeer for the team.

One is an emerging new force in the Premier League under foreign capital;

The other is a traditionally strong team controlled by British local tycoons.

The clash between these two teams is full of gimmicks, attracting maximum attention.

The Times even commented, "This isn't a simple Premier League match, but a symbol of the struggle between British local capital and foreign capital. Both teams have had an entire summer's preparation and are raring to go. The final result of this match will largely influence the investment intentions of potential Premier League investors."

However, at the pre-match press conference, the over-sixty-year-old Manchester City's old coach, Pellegrini, appeared quite humble.

Playing away, he remained somewhat reserved in his words.

"Tottenham's strength is undeniable. Their away grounds are a nightmare for many Premier League teams. Starting well is difficult, if Manchester City wants to become a Premier League champion team, facing such strong teams in the Premier League like Tottenham Hotspur is the touchstone to test our team's strength."

Yet, as the relatively weaker side, the 43-year-old young coach of Tottenham, the Argentine Pochettino, sang a high tune instead.

"To break into the Premier League top four, gaining points in the mid-lower teams is far from enough. We must be able to defeat strong teams like Chelsea, Manchester City, and Arsenal to ensure we achieve our goal. We have no retreat in this home game; the goal is three points only!"

The night before arriving in London.

Tang Long, in a playful tone, sent a text message to Gualin at the hotel, teasing him:

[We are going to meet, old friend! I heard the grass quality at White Hart Lane is excellent, very suitable for ground through balls, is that right?]

Gualin replied: [Haha, I can only tell you, our field is wide, and once the formation is opened, it's very suitable for long shots, tell Joe Hart to watch out!]

...

Tang Long's joining Manchester City also shifted countless Chinese fans' attention from Milan to Manchester.

CCTV originally intended to acquire Premier League rights, but unexpectedly, LeSports seized them.

LeSports announced a cooperation with the Premier League rights holder, Suning Sports, officially becoming the media partner for the 2015-2016 Premier League season in mainland China.

They will broadcast all 380 Premier League games of the season via PC, pad, and mobile channels, in full HD 1080p throughout.

And this opening game between Manchester City and Tottenham will also be broadcast freely to the Chinese fans!

The commentator for this game is the famous Zhan Jun.

A large number of fans who used to watch Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 flooded into the live broadcast studio.

Many of them were quite annoyed by Zhan Jun's voice, feeling it was a bit ducky and sounded weird.

However, Chinese fans who have been watching the Premier League for a long time are quite fond of Zhan Jun's magnetic voice and enamored by his commentary style, rich in all sorts of trivia.

"Hello, dear viewers, welcome to lock onto LeSports at 7:30 PM Chinese local time. Watch the 2015-2016 season Premier League round 1 opening match, Tottenham at home against Manchester City, with me as your commentator, and my partner Coach Zhang Lu, hello Coach Zhang!"

"Hello dear viewers, hahaha!"

Fortunately, LeSports invited Zhang Lu, the old friend of Chinese fans, to participate in the commentary.

Hearing that LeSports invited him to commentate on the Premier League, Coach Zhang, nearly seventy, was so happy that he couldn't help but let out a few laughs.

Last year, to commentate on Tang Long's matches at Inter Milan, Coach Zhang was forced to stay up until 3:00 AM persistently practicing 'immortality'.

This afterlife timing made the bags under his eyes grow a circle larger than his eyes.

The audience couldn't tell whether it was swelling or eye bags?

The Premier League is great. The pace is fast, it's fierce and enjoyable to watch, and the commentary is exciting.

The most important thing is the Premier League's timing is good; most matches start at 10 PM Chinese local time.

Today's opening match was moved earlier, astonishingly kicking off at 7:30. Zhang Lu finished dinner at 6:00, burped contentedly, and leisurely drove to the broadcast studio, feeling very good.

"I followed Tang Long's matches the whole of last year. This young man is extraordinary; he made a name for himself in Serie A, and now he's come to the Premier League. I heard he even set a transfer record for Manchester City. Is that true, Zhan Jun?"

"Haha, Coach Zhang was right. €71 million, a record in Manchester City's history. Let's see how Tang Long performs tonight!"

"First, let's introduce the starting lineup for the home team Tottenham, they're playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation."

"Single striker, Harry Kane!"

"Attacking midfielder, Eriksson!"

"Left winger, Son Heung-min, right winger, Lamela!"

"Double defensive midfielders are Dale and Gualin!"

"Two central defenders, Alderweireld and Vertonghen!"

"Left-back Ben Davies, right-back Walker!"

"Goalkeeper, Lori!"

Zhan Jun opened Manchester City's starting list.

"Manchester City is also playing 4-2-3-1!"

"Single forward, Agüero!"

"Attacking midfielder, Milner!"

"Left winger is Sterling, right winger is Navas!"

"Double defensive midfielders, Yaya Toure and Fernando!"

"Two central defenders, Kompany and Ranocchia!"

"Left-back Kolarov, right-back Sagna!"

"Goalkeeper, Joe Hart!"

Zhang Lu was also taken aback after hearing this. He thought he misheard because Tang Long's name wasn't in there.

Actually, the starting list for the match had been announced an hour before, but Zhang Lu hadn't done as much prep work as Zhan Jun before the game.

"Ah, our Tang Long isn't starting?" Zhang Lu asked surprised.

"Yes, Coach Zhang, Tang Long isn't starting. In the position of attacking midfielder is last season's mainstay in the latter half, the English player Milner."

"Milner. How is his skill? How does he compare to Tang Long?"

Zhang Lu hadn't commentated on Premier League games much in recent years, nor had he watched many, so he wasn't familiar with Milner.

But fortunately, the commentary atmosphere at LeSports wasn't as cautious as CCTV, so Zhang Lu straightforwardly asked Zhan Jun.

"Milner is an England international, strong running ability," Zhan Jun answered in a standard manner, "he's been playing at Manchester City for many years, he's a decent player."

"Oh, I see, I have to carefully observe him in this match." Zhang Lu perked up, wanting to closely watch Milner's performance, to see why Tang Long, for whom the club spent €71 million in transfer fees, was benched by this 29-year-old Englishman.

Seeing that Tang Long wasn't in the starting lineup, the live chat was full of complaints!

- "What the heck, I finished dinner, excitedly came to watch the Premier League, just to see Tang Long, where is he?"

- "Is Pellegrini out of his mind? Milner, this guy, how can he compare to our Tang Long!"

- "Goodness, €71 million for a substitute, Manchester City is wealthy, but can't waste money like this!"

- "Is it possible that Tang Long is injured? That would be troublesome, injured at the season's start..."

- "He's not injured. The day before, Manchester City's official site even posted pictures of the whole team training, with Tang Long in it, participating in the practice match."

- "This is confusing; coming to Manchester City to be a substitute, it's really better to stay at Inter, at least he could play as a starter."

- "Well! Manchester City pays higher wages, if it were you, would you prefer playing as a starter at Inter or tripling your salary to play as a substitute at Manchester City?"

- "Ah, no way! Could it be Tang Long purely went to Manchester City for the money? Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed..."

Actually, the speculation from netizens was just random guesses.

Manchester City Club spent a record transfer fee of the time. Among the many top clubs eyeing him, Tang Long was painstakingly bought, surely to play as a starter.

Pellegrini wouldn't forcefully keep Tang Long on the bench unless he didn't want to stay as the manager, and moreover, Pellegrini greatly admired Tang Long.

In fact, two days before the match, Tang Long already knew he would start on the bench for this game.

Pellegrini spoke to him earnestly: "Tang, for Round 1 away against Tottenham, I will arrange for you to sit on the bench for two reasons; listen to me explain slowly."

"First, you just officially joined the team a few days ago, missing almost all of our summer training at Manchester City. Although you're very young and your physical condition is good, you still need a gradual recovery period, which is scientifically backed."

"Secondly, the Premier League pace is very fast, much faster than Serie A, you need to observe and think more from the bench, especially watching how Milner plays in your position. Thus, I'll only give you 30 to 45 minutes of playtime, I hope you understand."

Tang Long gladly accepted Pellegrini's thoughts, expressing he had no issues.

He thought to himself: "Pellegrini deliberately mentioned my competitor for the attacking midfielder position, Milner, and told me to watch how he plays from the bench, surely with some deeper intention. Milner, playing as a mainstay often in the latter half of last season, is also an England international; he must have something unique. Manchester City was the runner-up last season in the Premier League, with many strong players in the team. To play here, how could one not have real skills? I must observe well."