The Chinese Super League returns with a fresh set of fixtures as Dalian Pro and Shanghai Shenhua go head to head at the Dalian Sports Centre Stadium on Thursday.
The hosts will head into the midweek matchup seeking to get one over the Flower of Shanghai, having failed to win any of the last six meetings between the sides since May 2019.
Match preview
Dalian Pro were denied a third win on the bounce last Saturday as they could only salvage a 2-2 draw with Beijing Guoan when the sides squared off at the Puwan Stadium.
After falling behind to Borislav Tsonev's seventh-minute strike, Xizhe Zhang and Yunning Zhang found the target to put the Imperial Guards ahead, but summer signing Manzoki Lobi netted in the 83rd minute to force a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, the Blue Hawks claimed a resounding 5-1 victory over Shenzhen on September 1 to end their two-match winless run before seeing off Hebei 2-1 in their subsequent outing on September 20.
With 19 points from 17 games, Xie Hui's side are currently 12th in the Chinese Super League standings, level on points with 13th-placed Shenzhen and eight points above Guangzhou FC in the relegation zone.
While Dalian Pro will be looking to steer clear of the drop zone, their next task sees them take on an opposing side who they have failed to defeat in their last six encounters, losing four and picking up two draws since a 1-0 win in May 2019.
Shanghai Shenhua, on the other hand, maintained their fine run of results as they claimed a hard-earned 1-0 victory over sixth-placed Meizhou Hakka last Tuesday.
Thirty-five-year-old forward Xu Yang came up clutch at the Jinzhou Stadium as he scored the only goal of the game on the 90th-minute mark to hand the visitors their fourth defeat of the season.
Jingui Wu's men are currently unbeaten in each of their most recent five games, claiming three wins and two draws since a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Chengdu Rongcheng on August 17.
Shanghai Shenhua have picked up nine wins, six draws and lost two of their 17 games this season to collect 33 points and sit third in the league table, two points above fourth-placed Henan Songshan Longmen just outside the AFC Champions League qualification spot.
While the Flower of Shanghai will be looking to keep the juggernaut rolling and strengthen their claim for a Champions League spot, they have struggled for results away from home, where they are currently on a run of one win from seven games, losing twice and claiming four draws since June.
Team News
Tsonev continued his hot streak in front of goal with his strike against Beijing Guoan last Saturday and the 27-year-old, who has scored in his four games since his summer move from Slavia Sofia, will be one to keep an eye on.
Lobi staked his claim for a starting role with his impressive cameo at the weekend and the Central African Republic forward could be thrown in to lead the Blue Hawks' attack on Thursday.
On the injury front, newly-signed midfielder Nemanja Bosancic is a major doubt for Dalian Pro after the Serbian was hauled off with a 41st-minute injury at the weekend.
Meanwhile, Shanghai Shenhua will have to cope without the services of Denny Wang Yi after the Italian full-back missed the game against Meizhou Hakka last Tuesday through injury.
Off the back of a solid defensive performance against the Kezhou, Wu could name an unchanged back four of Jiabao Wen, Shenglong Jiang, Yangyang Jin and Jiabao Wen, with 35-year-old Cheng Zeng starting in goal.
Veteran striker Yang returned to the XI against Meizhou Hakka last time out, and after an inspiring performance, the 35-year-old should retain his starting role at the attacking end of the pitch on Thursday.
Dalian Pro possible starting lineup:
Wu; Lu, Dong, Huang, Sun; Fei, Yan, Lu; Shang, Lobi, Tsonev
Shanghai Shenhua possible starting lineup:
Zeng; Wen, Jiang, Jin, Wen; Zhu, Wu, N'Doumbou, Wang, Yu; Yang
We say: Dalian Pro 1-2 Shanghai Shenhua
Shanghai Shenhua have enjoyed the better of this fixture in recent years and head into Thursday as slight favourites to come away with the desired result. While we expect Dalian Pro to put up a fight, we are backing Wu's men to claim all three points, albeit by a slender margin.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
