Zhejiang Professional welcome Shanghai Shenhua to the Yellow Dragon Sports Centre Stadium in gameweek 15 of the Chinese Super League on Friday.
The Green Giants and Shenhua could lose their spots in the table if they do not secure the best result and outcomes elsewhere go against them.
Match preview
Zhejiang suffered a 2-1 defeat in their last Super League outing, but that loss was an anomaly for Jordi Vinyals and his team.
The Green Giants had gone seven games unbeaten in all competitions before that loss, and they seek a response to prevent a glitch from worsening for the hosts.
Even though home results rank Zhejiang in 10th, the last three on home turf have been victories, with nine goals scored and only two conceded — they seek a third consecutive clean sheet at Yellow Dragon Sports Centre Stadium on Friday.
Defeat for Vinyals' team could see them leapfrogged by 10th-placed Cangzhou Mighty Lions, who sit two points adrift of the ninth-placed team.
However, Zhejiang could rise to seventh if they secure maximum points and both Beijing Guoan and Wuhan Three Towns lose.
Second-placed Shanghai Shenhua missed an opportunity to close the gap atop the standings when they suffered a 2-1 home defeat against fourth-placed Tianjin Jinmen Tiger.
Table-topping Shanghai Port could only draw 1-1 with Shandong Taishan, more or less extending the lead to five points.
Jingui Wu's troops had picked up three consecutive league wins (four in all competitions) before coming unstuck against the side two places below them in the table and were fortunate Chengdu Rongcheng's loss saw them hold on to second place.
Interestingly, the Flower of Shanghai have shown consistency on their travels more than on their turf this term, suggesting a positive result is in the offing on Friday.
With 13 points secured from an available 18 on the road — 72%— and 15 accrued from 24 — 62.5% — in front of their fans, Wu's team can be confident of a returning to winning ways against Zhejiang.
Team News
Jin Cheng could start his third consecutive league game for Zhejiang after recovering from a collarbone fracture that saw him miss the opening 11 gameweeks of the season.
Lucas Possignolo scored on his return to the side, and the centre-back should keep his place in defence.
Yu Dong returned from suspension against Cangzhou, only to receive a straight red card in that game, thus ruling out the right-back this Friday.
Wu could be without Yunding Cao and Macario Hing-Glover, both of whom were withdrawn early in Shenhua's defeat by Tianjin last time out.
Cephas Malele's six Super League goals make him the Flower of Shanghai's top scorer so far, and the forward's contribution could be pivotal on Friday.
Zhejiang Professional possible starting lineup:
Zhao; Wang, Leung, Possignolo, Xin; Li, N'Doumbou; Gao, Jin, Kouassi; Mushekwi
Shanghai Shenhua possible starting lineup:
Bao; Jin, Jiang, Zhu; Yougang, Amadou, Wang, Xisi; Liu, Malele, Teixeira
We say: Zhejiang Professional 2-2 Shanghai Shenhua
Zhejiang and Shenhua head into this gameweek in fine form at home and away, respectively, and both sides could cancel each other out with a score draw on Friday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
