Henan Songshan Longmen will be attempting to extend their unbeaten record to five matches when they travel to face Changchun Yatai on Monday.
At a time when the visitors sit in second position in the standings, Changchun find themselves down in 12th spot after collecting just one win in four games.
Match preview
On the back of 10th position last season, Henan may have entered the season aiming for anything which represented an improvement on their previous effort.
However, Javier Pereira's team have been superb since the beginning of the campaign, collecting 10 points and scoring 12 goals in just four fixtures.
Although it took a last-gasp equaliser to draw with Dalian Pro in the opening game, they have since found their stride to appear like a team who can challenge for the title.
Numerous players have chipped in with goals during the first four fixtures, but Fernando Karanga has stood out with four strikes, already matching his total from last season.
While this represents Henan's second of five away fixtures in succession, Pereira will be confident about defeating a team who were soundly beaten last time out.
Changchun would have been content with their start to the campaign heading into their meeting with Shandong Taishan, five points coming from three games.
However, three goals either side of half time contributed to a heavy 4-0 defeat away from home, leaving Chen Yang with much to ponder.
Up until then, Changchun had conceded just two strikes, one of which came in the 90th minute when four goals to the good versus Guangzhou City.
- W
- D
- D
- L
- D
- W
- W
- W
Team News
Changchun are expected to make a change between the sticks after Wu Yake replaced Liu Weiguo just after the hour mark against Shandong.
The back three, which features former Aston Villa defender Jores Okore, should remain the same, but Wang Huapeng is pushing for a return in midfield.
Last time out, Pereira made two changes in the 34th minute, Ma Xingyu and Han Dong both being introduced into the action.
Three minutes later, Henan scored their first of three goals at Guangzhou City, and Pereira will likely decide that the duo should start this contest.
Zhao Honglue and Du Zhixuan were the players to be replaced in the previous game and should feature on the substitutes' bench.
Changchun Yatai possible starting lineup:
Yake; Sun, Okore, Han; Liao, Wang, Zhang, Rao; Tan, Negrao, Erik
Henan Songshan Longmen possible starting lineup:
Wang Guoming; Luo, Sunjic, Yang; Karanga, Ma, Wang Shangyuan, Zhong; Han, Mierzejewski, Dourado
We say: Changchun Yatai 1-2 Henan Songshan Longmen
On the back of such a heavy defeat, a home fixture with Henan is not ideal for Changchun. Although they will be motivated to get back on track at the earliest opportunity, Henan are playing with enough confidence to prevail by the odd goal in three.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Darren Plant
