Hebei will be hoping to pick up their first points of the Chinese Super League season when they welcome Shanghai Shenhua to the Langfang City Sports Center on Thursday.
In contrast to their hosts, the visitors are looking to maintain their unbeaten start to the campaign after picking up seven points from their opening three matches.
Match preview
Hebei have begun the campaign on the back foot, with their three league encounters all ending in defeat.
They suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat to Wuhan Three Towns on the opening day of the season before heading on their travels to face Wuhan FC.
Kim Jong-boo's side looked set to collect their first point of the season, as they entered the final stages of the contest with the score level at one goal apiece, but Wuhan FC managed to snatch all three points thanks to Felicio Brown Forbes's 90th-minute winner.
The dramatic defeat dented Hebei's confidence, and they were unable to offer a response at the weekend, losing 2-0 to Shanghai Port.
After conceding at least two goals in each of their three league games, Hebei know that they will need to improve defensively if they are to begin picking up points.
Shanghai Shenhua, meanwhile, have enjoyed an unbeaten start to the campaign after dropping only two points in their opening three games.
A 1-0 win over Guangzhou FC got the season up and running before goals from Christian Bassogog and Yang Xu helped Shanghai Shenhua clinch a 2-0 victory against their local rivals Shanghai Port on matchday two.
They were unable to pick up a third consecutive victory at the weekend, but they managed to maintain their unbeaten run thanks to a last-minute equaliser in their home encounter with Wuhan Three Towns.
The visitors held the lead for over 80 minutes following Xie Penfei's opener, but a 93rd-minute equaliser from Bi Jinhao ensured that Shanghai Shenhua avoided their first defeat of the season.
They will be hopeful of retaining that unbeaten record after avoiding defeat in their last five meetings with Hebei.
- L
- L
- L
- W
- W
- D
Team News
Hebei could make a change in defence, with Liu Jing expected to slot in at right-back in place of Chen Yunhua.
After starting the opening game on the bench, Yao Daogang is set to be included in the starting XI for the third consecutive game.
Meanwhile, Zhang Wei is expected to keep his place in the frontline, despite being taken off at half time against Shanghai Port.
As for Shanghai Shenhua, they could make a number of changes to the side that started against Wuhan Three Towns.
Cao Yunding, Wu Xi, and Bassogog are all in contention to be included in the lineup after the trio came off the bench at half time on Sunday.
Bi was also a substitute at the weekend, but after scoring a dramatic equaliser, the 31-year-old is set to return to the starting XI for Wednesday's contest.
Hebei possible starting lineup:
Bao; J. Liu, Ju. Zhang, Pan, Cui; X. Yao, Y. Gao, D. Yao, H. Gao; T. Xu; W. Zhang
Shanghai Shenhua possible starting lineup:
Ma; Zhang, S. Jiang, C. Zhu, Fulangxisi; Bassogog, N'Doumbou, Wu, Cao; J. Zhu, Bi
We say: Hebei 1-3 Shanghai Shenhua
The hosts have not won a match since August 2021, and with Shanghai Shenua currently enjoying a rich vein of form, we think that Hebei's wait for a victory will continue past Thursday's encounter as we expect the visitors to clinch all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
