Preview: Wuhan Three Towns vs. Shanghai Shenhua - prediction, team news, lineups

Match preview

Wuhan Three Towns continue to fire on all cylinders in the new Chinese Super League campaign as they claimed a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Guangzhou FC on Thursday.

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After falling behind to Dinghao Yan's 21st-minute penalty, Nicolae Stanciu levelled matter two minutes later before Pengfei Xie struck in the 48th minute to turn the game on its head.

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The newly-promoted side have announced their arrival in grand style, winning six of their opening seven games to sit at the top of the Super League standings.

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Morilla's men have now only dropped points at the Jinzhou Stadium on June 12, when they were held to a 1-1 draw by a resilient Shanghai Shenhua side.

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Wuhan Three Towns head into the weekend on a blistering run of 12 consecutive victories on home turf across all competitions, stretching back to a 2-2 draw with Nanjing City back in August 2021.

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Shanghai Shenhua, on the other hand, were denied a fourth win on the bounce last Wednesday when they were held to a 1-1 draw by local rivals Shanghai Port.

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Jianrong Zhu put the visitors ahead in the 19th minute but Cherif Ndiaye was calm under pressure as he converted his 90th-minute penalty to force a share of the spoils.

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Like this weekend's hosts, Shanghai Shenhua are unbeaten in the league so far this season, claiming five wins and two draws from their opening seven games.

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Wu Jingui's side are also lose a game in 2022, with their last defeat coming on December 21 when Henrique Dourado scored a second-half brace to hand Henan Songshan Longmen a 2-0 victory.

Wuhan Three Towns Chinese Super League form:

Shanghai Shenhua Chinese Super League form:

Team News

With his strike against Guangzhou City, Stanciu now boasts eight goal involvements in seven outings this season and the 29-year-old midfielder will certainly be one to keep an eye out for.

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He should be joined at the centre of the park by 28-year-old Xiaobing Zhang while former Hebei man Senwen Luo will push for his third start of the season.

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Further up the pitch, Davidson, who boasts five goals and two assists to his name so far, has also been pivotal in the Wuhan outfit's solid start to the season and the 31-year-old should spearhead the attack once again.

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Meanwhile, Ruofan Liu returned from a two-game injury lay-off when he came on as a substitute in the Shanghai derby and the 23-yeqr-old will push for a place in the starting XI.

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Veteran midfielder Xi Wu is a doubt for the visitors after the 33-year-old came off injured midway through the aforementioned game, meaning Shilin Sun could come in for his second start of the season.

Wuhan Three Towns possible starting lineup:

Liu; Hang, Yaki, Zhang, Tao; Ademilson, Zhang, Stanciu, Luo; Davidson, Marcao

Shanghai Shenhua possible starting lineup:

Ma; Li, Bi, Zhu, Bai; N'Doumbou, Wang, Sun, Cao; Bassogog, Zhu

We say: Wuhan Three Towns 3-1 Shanghai Shenhua

Wuhan Three Towns and Shenhua Shenhua are the only two sides yet to lose this term and this makes this weekend's matchup an exciting one. While both sides are currently firing on all cylinders, we are backing the Wuhan outfit to maintain their super goalscoring form and outscore the visitors.

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