Preview: Shenzhen vs. Beijing Guoan - prediction, team news, lineups

The hosts will be desperate to get one over the Imperial Guards, having failed to win any of the last nine meetings between the sides since 2010.

Match preview

Shenzhen returned to winning ways in the Super League as they saw off Cangzhou Mighty Lions 2-1 at the Wuhua Olympic Sports Center Huitang Stadium last Thursday.

After trailing to Fuyu Ma's 21st-minute opener, the visitors rallied and upped the ante as Tsun Dai and Shuai Pei scored to turn the game on its head.

Prior to that, Lee Jang-Soo's side were on a run of four consecutive games without a win, picking up one point from a possible 12 in that time.

Shenzhen have now picked up four wins, one draw and lost four of their nine games so far to collect 13 points and sit eighth in the league standings.

While they will look to make it two consecutive victories for the second time this season, next up is an opposing side who are unbeaten in each of their last nine encounters since a 2-1 loss in April 2010.

On the other hand, Beijing Guoan were held to a goalless draw by a resilient Meizhou Hakka side when they squared off at the Meixian Tsang Hin-chi Stadium last Thursday.

Xie Feng's men are now unbeaten in each of their last eight games, claiming four wins and four draws since kicking off the season with a 2-1 home defeat against Cangzhou Mighty Lions on June 5.

This run has been owing to their solid performance at the attacking end of the pitch, where they boast one of the league's best records with 14 goals scored so far.

With 16 points from nine games, Beijing Guoan are currently fifth in the league table, level on points with Shanghai Port and four off third-placed Henan Songshan Longmen in the final AFC Champions League qualification spot.

Shenzhen Chinese Super League form:

Beijing Guoan Chinese Super League form:

Team News

Shenzhen will take to the pitch without the services of French forward Romain Alessandrini, who is set to sit out his fourth consecutive game through a rib injury.

With his goal and assist against Cangzhou Mighty Lions last time out, Dai now boasts seven goal involvements in nine games and the 22-year-old forward will be one to keep an eye on.

He should be joined in attack by Lin Gao and Ke Sun, while we expect to see a midfield pairing of Yuanyi Li and Yuan Zhang for the third straight game.

Meanwhile, Beijing Guoan will once again make do without the duo of Pengxiang Jin and Li Ke, who are both recuperating from ankle and knee injuries respectively.

Twenty-four-year-old goalkeeper Quanbo Guo is yet to feature this year through a severe injury, while Xi Feng is back available for selection after serving his suspension for receiving a red card against Meizhou Hakka last time out.

Naibijiang Mohemati was hauled off injured shortly after the hour mark in the aforementioned game and the 20-year-old is a doubt for the Imperial Guards.

Shenzhen possible starting lineup:

Zhang; Huang, Lim, Zhang, Yuan; Jiang, Zhang, Li; Gao, Dai, Sun

Beijing Guoan possible starting lineup:

Zou; Shaowen, Yu, C Zhang; Wang, Z Chi, Memisevic, X Zhang, S Kang; Dabro, Y Zhang

We say: Shenzhen 1-2 Beijing Guoan

While Shenzhen will be looking to build on their victory over Cangzhou Mighty Lions, next up is a rampant Beijing Guoan side who are unbeaten since the league's opening weekend. The Imperial Guards are unbeaten in nine straight games against the hosts and we are backing them to extend their dominance in this fixture.

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