Having recently ended a five-game losing streak, Shenzhen lock horns against Shandong Taishan at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre on Saturday.

The away side, on the other hand, will be seeking to snap a two-game winless run and get their title challenge back on track heading into the second half of the campaign.

Match preview

Shenzhen picked up a first win in six league outings as they emphatically bested Wuhan FC 3-0 at the Wuhan Sports Centre on Tuesday.

Zhang Xiaorui's men opened the scoring through Yuanyi Li before second-half goals from Yuan Zhang and Zhipeng Jiang put the game to bed.

Consequently, the Youth Army have moved up to 12th place in the standings, opening up an eight-point gap over the relegation zone in the process.

Lying in store next is the challenge of an opposing outfit yet to suffer defeat in any of the last 13 meetings between the teams since 2009.

Currently on a mixed run of form on home turf with the last six home involvements yielding three wins and as many losses, Saturday's hosts will be keen to attain stability in front of their fans starting with this weekend's contest.

Shandong Taishan were involved in a share of the spoils for the first time this season following a 1-1 draw against Wuhan Three Towns at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium on Wednesday.

Hao Wei's men trailed to Zhunyi Gao's opener in the 28th minute before restoring parity through Yang Liu with a quarter of the game left to play.

With 40 points from 17 games so far, the Team of Mount Tai are second in the Chinese Super League table, seven points off the top of the pile.

Off the back of a first away defeat in seven matches in their most recent affair on the road, Saturday's visitors set out to secure a return to winning ways.

Team News

Shenzhen's Romain Alessandrini continues to battle with a fractured rib which has kept him out of action since the middle of August.

Wai-Tsun Dai had to make do with a place on the bench last time out, and the 23-year-old will be expected to return to the XI for this one.

Xinghan Wu is still sidelined with a long-term injury as the midfielder awaits his first outing for Shandong Taishan since the turn of the year.

The away side are also set to be without the services of Jun-Ho Son, who is currently on duty with the South Korean national team.

Shenzhen possible starting lineup:
Dong; Mi, Lim, Pei, Yuan, Shinar; Zheng, Li, Zhang, Jiang; Acheampong

Shandong Taishan possible starting lineup:
Wang; Ji, Shi, Zheng, Song; Moises, Jadson, Fellaini; Crysan, Guo, Jin

We say: Shenzhen 0-2 Shandong Taishan

Shenzhen have been defensively frugal to a large extent on their own turf this term, but this has often come at the expense of being toothless at the other end. Shandong, meanwhile, have found the back of the bet in all but one of their away matches so far, and we are backing them to get the job done here.

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