Fresh off the back of picking up their first win of the season, Hebei visit the Puwan Stadium to face Shanghai Port in round eight of the Chinese Super League on Monday.
The Red Eagles head into the game unbeaten in 11 of the last 13 meetings between the sides since 2016 and will look to extend their dominance over the visitors.
Match preview
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Shanghai Port will be disappointed not to have walked away with all three points as they could only salvage a 1-1 draw with local rivals Shanghai Shenhua last Wednesday.
Despite being on the front foot for most of the game, Ivan Leko's men needed a 90th-minute penalty from Cherif Ndiaye to cancel out Jianrong Zhu's first-half opener and force a share of the spoils.
After losing their opening two games of the season, the Red Eagles have gone unbeaten in four of their subsequent five outings, picking up three wins and one draw in that time.
With 10 points from a possible 21, Shanghai Port are currently ninth in the Chinese Super League table, but could rise as high as fifth place with all three points on Monday.
Hebei, on the other hand, finally got their league campaign up and running as they claimed a 2-1 victory over Wuhan when the sides met last Thursday.
After taking the lead through Zhang Wei's sixth-minute penalty, 27-year-old Tian Ming struck in the 73rd minute to level matters but Wei added his second of the game with three minutes remaining on the clock.
Prior to that, Kim Jong-boo's men were on a 16-game winless run across all competitions, picking up three draws and losing 14 games — including each of their opening six Super League games.
With three points from a possible 21, Hebei are currently bottom but one in the league standings, one above last-placed Guangzhou City who have lost each of their seven games so far.
While the Langfang outfit will look to pick up successive wins for the first time since last July, next up is the challenge of taking on an opposing side who are unbeaten in 11 of the last 13 meetings between the teams, picking up nine wins and two draws in that time.
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With his equaliser in the Shanghai derby, Ndiaye has now scored in each of his last three outings and and we expect the Senegalese forward to spearhead the attack once again.
Liu Zhurun came off the bench to good effect in the aforementioned game and the 20-year-old will push for a place in the starting XI, teaming up with Ndiaye in the final third.
Ang Li and Linpeng Zhang have started each of the Red Eagles' seven games so far and we expect the duo to combine at the attacking end of the pitch once again, shielding Junling Yan in goal.
Off the back of picking up their first win of the season, Jong-boo could name an unchanged XI on Monday, meaning that we could see centre-back pairing of Junzhe Zhang and Ximing Pan with the duo of Daogang Yao and Huaze Gao retaining their place in the centre of the park.
Twenty-two-year-old Wei took his goal tally to four with his brace against Wuhan last time out and the 22-year-old will be one to keep an eye out for.
Shanghai Port possible starting lineup:
Yan; Yu, A Li, L Zhang; Luy, Muzepper, S Li, Feng, Paulinho; Zhurun, Ndiaye
Hebei possible starting lineup:
Bao; Cui, Pan, Zhang, Ding; X Yao, Yunan, D Yao, Gao, Ziye; Wei
We say: Shanghai Port 2-0 Hebei
While Hebei will look to build on their win over Wuhan, they have struggled for results on the road, where they last picked up a win back in May 2021. Looking at past results between the sides, Shanghai Port are firm favourites to come away with all three points and we are backing them to do just that.
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