Wuhan Three Towns will welcome struggling Dalian Pro to the Wuhan Sports Centre Stadium on Wednesday in round 13 of the Chinese Super League season.
The home side currently sits in eighth position in the league standings and will eagerly welcome this fixture against the bottom team in the table as they seek to halt a disappointing run of results, having failed to secure a win in their last three league fixtures.
Match preview
Wuhan Three Towns found respite from their league campaign in the CFA Cup on Friday night, when they secured an impressive 5-1 victory over Jiangxi Lushan to book their place in the next round of the competition.
The reigning Chinese Super League champions have seen their title defence get off to a worrying start, with a disappointing run of three wins from 12 games in the league this season ultimately leading to manager Pedro Morilla stepping down from his role.
Morilla's replacement, Tsutomu Takahata, will be focused on rediscovering the winning formula for his side in the league, with his team's struggle to convert draws into wins having hindered their progress this season.
Indeed, Wuhan have recorded seven draws in the league this season; the highest number of draws among all the teams in the Chinese top flight.
Home form will be another area Takahata will have to address, as his team are yet to win on their own patch in the league this campaign, drawing four and losing one of their opening five home league games.
They have also conceded in eight of the 12 matches they have played in the league this term, with a failure to keep a clean sheet in four out of the five games played at home.
Dalian Pro have endured an even tougher time in the league, going on a five-game losing run before managing to pick up a point against Beijing Guoan last time out.
Having secured a much-needed win in their most recent match against Yanbian Longding in the CFA Cup, Xie Hui's side will be eager to capitalise on that momentum and carry it forward as they resume their Chinese Super League campaign.
The Blue Hawks continue to occupy the bottom position in the standings and currently hold the lowest win rate in the league this season, with just one victory to their name, which came at home against Nandong in the first game of the 2023 campaign.
Since their opening-day triumph, they have endured an 11-game winless streak in the league, which stands as the longest ongoing streak without a victory among all the teams in the league this term.
Wednesday's visitors also have the worst away record in the league this season; they have failed to secure a single point on their travels in five attempts and have scored the fewest goals away from home.
Despite their abysmal league record, Dalian Pro find themselves just two points adrift of safety, but Hui will need to find the winning formula for his struggling side if they are to have any hopes of climbing out of the relegation zone.
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Team News
After making significant changes to his lineup for his first game in charge against Jiangxi in the CFA Cup, Takahata is expected to field his strongest team available for this upcoming encounter.
Abdul-Aziz Yakubu grabbed a brace for Wuhan in that last cup outing and will be pushing for another starting berth under the new boss, which would be his first in the league since April.
Ademilson is expected to make a return to the starting lineup after not featuring in the cup game, and the Brazilian forward will be eager to extend his scoring streak in the league to three games.
Expected to have recovered from his muscle fatigue, Vas Nunez will likely reclaim his spot in the starting lineup for Dalian Pro, providing a much-needed boost to the team.
Hui will be grateful to have no other fitness concerns in his squad coming into this clash, and it is expected that he will keep the majority of the starting lineup that showed promising signs in their previous league game against Beijing Guoan.
Wuhan Three Towns possible starting lineup:
D Liu; Xiaobin, Y Liu, Wallace; Zhunyi, Stanciu, Senwen, Hanwen; Yakubu, Ademilson, Davidson
Dalian Pro possible starting lineup:
Wu; Zhu, Longchang, Nunez, He; Yun, Peng, Tsonev, Bosancic, Lin; Manzoki
We say: Wuhan Three Towns 2-1 Dalian Pro
Considering Dalian Pro's struggles on the road and their inconsistent form in the league this season, it is expected that Wuhan Three Towns will assert their dominance in this encounter and finally put an end to their own string of draws.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
