Seeking to pick up a fifth consecutive away victory, Shanghai Shenhua take on Shandong Taishan at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium in round 16 of the Chinese Super League on Tuesday.
The Taishan Dui head into the midweek clash unbeaten in their last 11 outings in all competitions and will be looking to move level on points with first-placed Shanghai Port.
Match preview
Shandong Taishan maintained their fine run of results on Saturday when they picked up a narrow 1-0 victory over a resilient Henan Songshan Longmen side at the Zhengzhou Hanghai Stadium.
In a game where Nemanja Covic received his marching orders, Jadson came up clutch for the visitors as he drilled home the winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time to see off the Red Devils.
Shandong Taishan have now gone 11 straight games without defeat across all competitions, claiming six wins and five draws since a 2-1 loss against Meizhou Hakka on May 6.
Kang-Hee Choi's men are also one of just two sides yet to lose a home game in the Super League this season, having picked up four wins and two draws in their six matches.
With 25 points from 15 matches, Shandong Taishan are currently fifth in the league standings but could leapfrog Tianjin Jinmen Tiger and Chengdu Rongcheng into third place with all three points on Tuesday.
Shanghai Shenhua, on the other hand, returned to winning ways at the weekend as they edged out Zhejiang 1-0 when the sides met at the Huzhou Olympic Sports Center.
Thirty-six-year-old Hanchao Yu continued his fine form in front of goal as he found the target in the 13th minute to condemn the hosts to a second defeat on the bounce.
This followed a home 2-1 defeat against Tianjin Jinmen Tiger on July 2, when a second-half strike from Robert Beric and Yaxiong Bao's late own goal saw their run of four-straight wins in all competitions come to an end.
Jingui Wu's men have now won nine of their 15 Super League matches while claiming four draws and losing twice to collect 31 points and sit second in the table, three points off league leaders and local rival Shanghai Port.
The Flower of Shanghai have also notched up four consecutive away victories since the start of June, including a 2-1 victory over lower-tier Yunnan Yukun in the FA Cup third round on June 23.
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Team News
Cryzan had missed the last two games since coming off injured in June's 4-1 victory over Changchun Yatai and is a major doubt for Shandong Taishan.
The Brazilian forward boasts eight goals and two assists in his last eight matches and has been pivotal in the Taishan Dui's impressive campaign.
Marouane Fellaini started from the bench at the weekend, but following his impressive second-half cameo — including the game-winning assist — the former Manchester United man could be rewarded with a place in the XI.
With his strike against Zhejiang, Yu has now scored twice in his last three matches, including the winner in June's FA Cup victory, and the 36-year-old should retain his role in the starting side.
He should be joined in the final third by Cephas Malele, who is currently the Flower of Shanghai's top scorer with six league goals, while Christian Bassogog is a doubt after coming off injured on Saturday.
Should Bassogog fail to shake off the injury in time for Tuesday's clash, former Liverpool man Joao Carlos Teixeira could be handed his 10th Super League start of the season.
Shandong Taishan possible starting lineup:
Wang; Sun, Shi, Jadson, Ji; Liao, Huang; Pu, Moises, Chi; Fellaini
Shanghai Shenhua possible starting lineup:
Bao; Yang, Jiang, Zhu, Hing-Glover; Wang, Amadou, Xu; Yu, Malele, Teixeira
We say: Shandong Taishan 2-1 Shanghai Shenhua
Shandong Taishan and Shanghai Shenhua head into round 16 of the Super League as two of the most in-form sides in the division and we anticipate an action-packed contest on Tuesday. Choi's side have been near impenetrable at home this season and we fancy them picking up a narrow victory in front of their home supporters.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
