Match details:                       

Henan Songshan Longmen vs. Shandong Taishan
2^nd May at 3:30 PM.
Venue: Yuexiushan Stadium, Guangzhou.

Preview:

The Chinese Football Association Super League is the highest tier of professional football in Chinese football league system, where 16 clubs battle against each other to be determined as China’s champion club. It is game week 3, and in this Group A league fixture, the 7^th placed team on the table, Henan Songshan Longmen, take on top placed team, Shandong Taishan. In their previous respective competitive fixtures, Henan drew 0-0 away to Cangzhou Mighty Lions, while Shandong beat Guangzhou 1-0 at home in the Chinese Super League. Henan have not started the new campaign on a good note. They lost their first match and drew their latest one against Cangzhou, failing to register a shot on target in this match. They need to produce better football in the final third of the pitch, and would be hoping that new imports Toni Sunjicc and Buya Turay deliver in the upcoming matches. They finished 8^th in the 2020 season, and would be aiming to end up in a much better position in 2021. Shandong have got off to a brilliant start, winning both their opening matches, without conceding a goal. Ex-Manchester United midfielder Fellaini scored deep into stoppage time to secure all three points in their last match. The four-time winners have acquired the services of Brazilian Leonardo, which paid dividend in the first match itself, along with South Korean import Son Jun-Ho, and would be gunning for their 5^th CSL title after their strong start to the campaign. We expect them to get an easy win over Henan in this game.

Key Stats & Info:                                                                                   

• Shandong Taishan have won 4 of their last 6 CSL matches against Henan Songshan Longmen.
• Henan Songshan Longmen have conceded at least 2 goals in 7 of their last 8 CSL matches against Shandong Taishan.
• Shandong Taishan have won their last 8 matches in all competitions, scoring at least 2 goals in 6 of them.

Probable starting XI:

Henan:

Wu Yan (GK), Sunjic, Zhao Yuhao, Luo Xin, Feng Boxuan, Zhong Jinbao, Wang Shangyuan, Chow Tim, Mawlanyaz, Dourado, Turay

Shandong:

Wang Dalei, Ji Xiang, Shi Ke, Zheng Zheng, Song Long, Jin Jingdao, Son Jun-Ho, Xu Xin, Wu Xinghan, Guo Tianyu, Leonardo Souza

Key players:

Dourado (Henan): Brazilian forward Henrique Dorado joined Henan Songshan Longmen in 2019 from Brazilian side Flamengo, and has since made 20 appearances for the club across all competitions, scoring 9 goals and giving 1 assist. He scored 8 goals and gave 1 assist in the 19-20 season, but is yet to score or assist in 2 CSL games played this season. In his last game against Cangzhou Mighty Lions, he had 35 touches of the ball, and a passing accuracy of 67% giving 12 accurate passes. He is in decent form, and is expected to make his mark this season.

Leonardo Souza (Shandong): Brazilian forward Leonardo Souza joined Shandong Taishan at the start of the current season from Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds, and has got off to a good start scoring 1 goal in 2 Super League game played so far. He had a good 19-20 season scoring 13 goals and giving 4 assists in 30 games across all competitions. In his last game against Guangzhou, he played for 57 minutes and had 2 shots on target from 4 attempts on goal, 17 touches of the ball, gave 1 key pass, and had a passing accuracy of 100% giving 3 accurate passes. He is in good form, and is expected to be an important player for the club in the current season.

Guo Tianyu (Shandong): Chinese forward Guo Tianyu is a Shandong Taishan academy graduate, and since making his senior team debut in 2016, has since made 26 appearances for the club across all competitions, scoring 6 goals and giving 3 assists. He had a good 19-20 season, scoring 5 goals and giving 3 assists in 21 games across all competitions, and has scored 1 goal in 2 CSL games in the current season. In his last game against Guangzhou, he had 2 shots on target from 4 attempts on goal, 28 touches of the ball, and a passing accuracy of 55% giving 6 accurate passes. He is always an attacking threat, and is expected to make a difference in the next game.

Captain & vice-captain picks:

• Dourado (Henan)
• Turay (Henan)
• Leonardo Souza (Shandong)
• Guo Tianyu (Shandong)
• Jin Jingdao (Shandong)

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