Gameweek eight of the 2022 Chinese Super League season kicks off with a clash between Dalian Pro and Changchun Yatai at the Wuyuan River Stadium on Saturday.
The hosts head into the clash looking to pick up consecutive wins for the first time this term, while the visitors set out to extend their current three-game unbeaten run.
Match preview
Dalian Pro ended a four-game winless streak courtesy of 3-0 victory against Guangzhou City at the Mission Hills Football Base Stadium on Tuesday.
First-half goals from Yupeng He and Xiangchuang Yan put Xie Hui's men on course for all three points before Liangming Lin put the result beyond doubt five minutes into the second half.
Consequently, the Blue Hawks have moved up to 12th place in the standings and are now just one point off the top half after seven rounds of matches.
Awaiting them next is the challenge of an opposing side who have lost just two of the most recent nine meetings between the teams dating back to 2013.
Having picked up only four of a possible nine points on home turf so far, Saturday's hosts will be looking to up the ante in front of their fans this weekend and keep the juggernaut rolling on.
Changchun Yatai were held to a third straight stalemate on their own patch following a 1-1 draw against Zhejiang Professional on Wednesday.
Chen Yang's men fell behind to Franko Andrijasevic's 39th-minute penalty before restoring parity through Dino Ndlovu five minutes past the hour mark.
The Jilin-based outfit have slipped to eighth place in the league table and defeat in their next outing would see them leapfrogged by their opponents.
Off the back of a first away triumph of the season in their last game on the road, Saturday's visitors will be full of confidence ahead of this one as they set out to secure back to back wins on enemy territory for the first time since 2020.
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Team News
Dino Ndlovu found the back of the net on his return to the starting XI, and the South African is expected to feature right from the off once again.
Since a hat-trick on the opening day, Long Tan has now gone six matches without scoring, but the forward is set to lead the line for the visitors.
Xiangchuang Yan has been directly involved in six (two goals and four assists) of Dalian Pro's nine goals so far, making him one to keep an eye on this weekend.
Ting Zhu will be pushing for a start here after the 36-year-old had to make do with an unused substitute appearance in the hosts' last match.
Dalian Pro possible starting lineup:
Wang; Sun, Lin, Dong, He; Lu, Huang, Fei; Lin, Yan, Shang
Changchun Yatai possible starting lineup:
Wu; Sun, Okore, Cui; Wang, Zhang, Serginho, Rao; Tan, Ndlovu, Erik
We say: Dalian Pro 1-2 Changchun Yatai
There is little to choose between the teams coming into this one, and the game could easily swing either way. That said, we fancy the visitors to just about see off the threat of the home side and emerge victorious in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
