Round 10 of the Chinese Super League gets underway on Sunday when Shandong Taishan take a trip to the Mission Hills Football Base Stadium to square off with Dalian Pro.
Having won each of their last three outings, Hao Wei's side will head into the weekend looking to make it four consecutive victories for the first time since last December.
Match preview
Dalian Pro failed to move into the top half of the Super League standings as they fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Zhejiang last Wednesday.
Zambian forward Nyasha Mushekwi struck in the 26th minute to put the Green Giants in front heading into the interval before a 50th-minute own goal from Xianjun Wang made sure of the results.
Prior to that, Xie Hui's men were on a brief two-game unbeaten run, claiming a 3-0 victory at Guangzhou City to end their four-game winless streak on June 28 before playing out a 2-2 draw with Changchun Yatai five days later.
Dalian Pro have picked up two wins, four draws and lost three of their nine games to collect 10 points and sit 13th in the league table, but could rise as high as eighth with all three points this weekend.
Elsewhere, Shandong Yatai maintained their fine run of results last time out as they brushed aside Changchun Yatai 2-1 at the Wuyuan River Stadium Field 2.
Cryzan and Junior Negrao scored for either side to end the first half level before Chen Pu netted in the 87th minute to hand the visitors a hard-fought victory.
The Taishan Dui have now won each of their last three outings, scoring six goals and keeping two clean sheets since a 2-0 loss against Zhejiang on June 25.
With 21 points from nine games, Shangdon Taishan are currently second in the league standings, four points adrift of first-placed Wuhan Three Towns.
Next up is an opposing side who they are unbeaten against in 10 of the last 17 meetings between the sides since 2012, claiming eight wins and two draws in that time.
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Team News
Dalian Pro will take to the pitch without the services of Guowen Sun after the 28-year-old picked up a straight red against Zhejiang last time out.
In his absence, 32-year-old Longchang Lin should return to the fold, teaming up with Wang, Yanfeng Dong and Yupeng He at the defensive end of the pitch.
They will have their plates full as we expect Shandong Taishan to field the attacking duo of Cryzan and Moises for the seventh game on the bounce.
With his opener against Changchun Yatai last time out, Cryzan continued his red-hot form in front of goal as he has now scored in each of his last three outings.
Chen Pu came off the bench to good effect in the aforementioned game and the 25-year-old will push for a starting role, potentially teaming up with former Manchester United man Marouane Fellaini at the centre of the park.
Dalian Pro possible starting lineup:
Wang; Lin, Wang, Dong, He; Zhu, Fei, Lu; Shang, Yan, Lin
Shandong Taishan possible starting lineup:
Dalei; Lui, Shi, Zheng, Ji; Jun-ho, Jingdao, Fellaini, Liao; Moises, Cryzan
We say: Dalian Pro 1-2 Shandong Taishan
With six wins from their last seven outings, Shangdon Taishan head into the weekend as one of the most in-form sides in the division. They face a floundering Dalian Pro side who have managed just one win in their last seven outings and we predict that they will come away with all three points.
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