We continue to fly through the Chinese Super League campaign as teams across the top tier attempt to push towards their ultimate goal - whether it be the title, survival or somewhere in between. Today, we’ll be taking a look at an important clash between Beijing Guoan and Henan Jianye.
Beijing Form GuideBeijing Guoan struggle with the definition of consistency, as their 8th place spot in the table will tell you. They carry the weight of a city on their shoulders and really, they should probably be making bigger waves than they are. Still, they won’t count themselves out of a place in the top four, and they shouldn’t, so long as their star players can continue to hit their finest form.
After picking up wins over Chengdu and Shenzhen, Beijing were pushed back courtesy of a loss to Meizhou and a questionable 1-1 draw at home to Wuhan. They did rebound with a win over Qingdao, only to suffer defeat emphatically courtesy of Shandong in their next game.
Henan Form GuideIt’s been a mixed start to the season for Henan so far, and that’s us putting it lightly. There are so few goals scored in the games they take part in, with the big problem being their inability to convert their chances. They’ve got a lot of talent in their ranks and it would be a great shame to see it wasted, but they need to start considering the very real possibility of a relegation battle in the near future.
Henan’s win over Shenzhen on July 28th served as a welcome breath of fresh air for a team that was spiralling. They lost four straight to Changchun, Shandong, Chengdu and Qingdao to start the month before being held to a 1-1 draw by Nantong.
Match PredictionGiven their recent records and how they like to play, we’d argue that this one is going to be a bit tighter than some perhaps think. Neither side stands out as a dominant force and they both have impact players, and because of that, we’re going to favour a draw here.
