Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Chinese Super League clash between Shandong Taishan and Guangzhou City, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
After losing each of their opening seven games of the new Chinese Super League campaign, Guangzhou city go head to head Shandong Taishan on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Taishan Dui have gone unbeaten in each of their last 13 games against the visitors since 2016 and will be looking to keep the juggernaut going.
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Shandong Taishan maintained their 100 percent home record when they clinched a comfortable 2-0 win over Henan Songshan Longmen last Tuesday.
In a game where Jinbao Zhong received his marching orders, Brazilians forward cryzan put on a show as he lined up Jindao Jin‘s opening minutes in the 23rd minute before converting his penalty to give the hosts all three points.
Earlier, the Taishan Dui ended their three-game winning streak when they lost 2-0 in Zhejiang on 25 June thanks to goals from Franko Andrijasevic and Nyasha Mushekwi.
Shandong Taishan has now racked up five wins and lost two of their first seven games to sit third in the Super League standings, four points behind first-placed Wuhan Three Towns.
This solid start to the season is largely due to solid work in defence, where they have kept five clean sheets and conceded six goals so far.
Elsewhere, Guangzhou City once again went away empty-handed as they suffered a disappointing 3-0 loss to Dalian Pro last time out.
In a one-sided affair at Mission Hills Football Base Stadium, Yupeng Er, Yanxiangchuang and Liangming Lin were all on target to give the guests their second win of the season.
Jean Paul van GastelThe China side have lost every one of their seven games so far this season, with the most recent win coming in January when they defeated Hebei 2-1 in the 2021-22 season finale.
Their sparkling start to the season is thanks to their weaknesses in defense and a toothless display in attack, as they have scored just four goals so far and conceded 20 – the most of any 18 teams after seven rounds of matches.
While they’ll be looking to end that dry spell and get their campaign rolling, next up is a challenge from an opposing side they’ve failed to defeat in 13 straight attempts, losing 10 and clinching three draws since a 3-2 win have in April 2016.
Form of Shandong Taishan Chinese Super League:
Guangzhou City Chinese Super League Form:
Team News
Shandong Taishan will be without 29-year-old midfielder Wu Xinghan, who has been out since December with an ankle problem.
long song The hosts are also in doubt after the 32-year-old full-back was sent off injured just before half-time against Henan Songshan Longmen on Tuesday.
Former Oriental Dragonman in his absence Yang Liu will be pushing for his fourth start of the season and ally with ZhengZheng, Ke Shi and Xiang Ji in the back four.
At the attacking end of the field, Cryzan played a key role in beating Songshan Longmen last time out and we expect the Brazilian forward to lead the attack again.
In the meantime, miao tang has yet to play out this year with a meniscus injury and the 31-year-old defender remains out of contention for Guangzhou City.
He is joined on the club’s injury table by Chugui Yewho has also been out since last August after a cruciate ligament injury.
Shandong Taishan possible starting line-up:
Dalei; Lui, Shi, Zheng, Ji; Jun-ho, Moises, Jingdao, Fellaini; Pu, Cryzan
Guangzhou City possible starting line-up:
cheng; Jiang Huang Yi; Zhang, Li, Zhang, Fan, Chen; Wei, Gui
We say: Shandong Taishan 2-0 city of Guangzhou
Shandong Taishan will lick their lips as they host a faltering Guangzhou City side who are yet to take a point this season. Taishan Dui’s home ground has been a fortress so far and we are committed to expanding their dominance over the visitors and getting all three points again.
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top tip
Our expert Tipster partners at Sporita.com predict over 1.5 goals in this game. Click here to find out what else they predict for this game and for more of their football best tips.About 1.5: data