Round eight of the 2022 Chinese Super League season commences with a clash between Meizhou Hakka and Shenzhen at the Wuhua Hengpi Football Town on Sunday.
The home side set out to record consecutive wins for the first time since the turn of the year, while the visitors seek to end a run of three games without a win.
Match preview
Meizhou Hakka picked up a first win in four outings courtesy of an emphatic 4-1 demolition of Cangzhou Mighty Lions on Wednesday.
Milan Ristic's men raced to a commanding lead at half time thanks to strikes from Rade Dugalic and Rodrigo Henrique before Nebojsa Kosovic and Hongbon Yin grabbed second-half goals to seal the deal.
With 10 points amassed from a possible 21 this term, the Guangdong-based side have moved up to seventh place in the standings, and things are looking up once again.
Next up is the challenge of an opposing side who have lost just one of the last six meetings between the teams, winning the other five by a combined score of 13-3.
However, the solitary defeat in that time came in the most recent encounter on June 13 when Sunday's hosts claimed a dramatic 2-1 triumph.
Shenzhen just about came up short in a thrilling 3-2 contest against Tianjin Jinmen Tiger at the Meixian Tsang Hin-Chi Stadium on Wednesday.
Lee Jang-Soo's men led 2-1 at half time thanks to goals from Lin Gao and Yue Xu either side of Dun Ba's effort, but Ba grabbed his second of the game just shy of the hour mark before Robert Beric completed the turnaround midway through the second half.
The Youth Army currently occupy 10th place in the league table but would leapfrog this weekend's opponents should they manage to claim all three points.
Having let in the fourth-most goals away from home so far, Sunday's visitors will need to keep things tight at the back if they are to get the job done on the road.
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Team News
Nebojsa Kosovic has been directly involved in six of Meizhou's 10 goals, and the Montenegro international will be aiming to deliver the goods for the home side.
Hongbo Yin could be rewarded with a starting appearance this weekend after he came off the bench to good effect last time out.
No player has recorded more assists so far (four) than Shenzhen's Wai-Tsun Dai, making the Chinese midfielder one to keep an eye on.
Lin Gao found the back of the net on his return to the XI, and the 36-year-old should get the nod to feature right from the off once again.
Meizhou Hakka possible starting lineup:
Hou; Chen, Dugalic, Liao, Li; Kosovic, Cui; Li, Henrique, Yang; Vukanovic
Shenzhen possible starting lineup:
Zhang; Shinar, Zhang, Lim, Pei, Mi; Dai, Xu, Zhang, Acheampong; Gao
We say: Meizhou Hakka 1-0 Shenzhen
Both teams are separated in the league table only on goal difference, suggesting that a tight affair is expected in this one. However, we are tipping the home side to claim a narrow win come the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
