Winless in five straight Chinese Super League matches, Cangzhou Mighty Lions make a trip to the Wuhua County Olympic Sports Centre to take on Meizhou Hakka on Wednesday.
The teams are currently separated by one point and one point in the league table ahead of the contest, which means Cangzhou could leapfrog their hosts should they take all three points.
Meizhou Hakka suffered defeat for the first time this season following a 1-0 loss to Tianjin Jinmen Tiger at the Olympic Sports Center Stadium.
A 13th-minute strike from Farley Rosa proved to be the important goal as the Wuhua-based club failed to find the back of the net for the second game running.
Milan Ristic’s side are currently 12th in the standings and a defeat in their next fixture would see them leapfrogged by their opponents.
Having failed to win any of their last five home matches, Meizhou Hakka will be eager to end this drought in front of their fans and get theemselves back on track.
Meanwhile, Cangzhou ended a two-game losing run through a 1-1 draw against Beijing Guoan at the Wuhua Hengpi Football Town on Saturday.
The Mighty Lions broke the dealock early on through Shihao Piao before Yuning Zhang restored parity in the 84th minute from the penalty spot.
Despite dropping to 13th place in the Chinese Super League table, Svetozar Sapuric’s side are now three points clear of the relegation zone.
Next up is the challenge of facing an opposing side who have only won one of the last seven meetings between the teams dating back to 2017.
Off the back of two defeats in their last three Chinese Super League matches, Wednesday’s visitors will be looking to turn things around away from home and record a first win since the opening weekend of the season.
Meizhou Hakka vs Cangzhou Mighty Lions head to head
The two teams have previously met on eight occasions across all competitions, where Meizhou have claimed two victories while Cangzhou have won four, and they have drawn in two. Meizhou have scored 12 goals and conceded 11. In their last five meetings, Cangzhou have won three, Meizhou one with one draw.
Cangzhou Mighty Lions 2-1 Meizhou Hakka 10/03/18
Meizhou Hakka 1-0 Cangzhou Mighty Lions 28/07/18
Meizhou Hakka 4-5 Cangzhou Mighty Lions 01/06/19
Cangzhou Mighty Lions 1-0 Meizhou Hakka 28/09/19
Cangzhou Mighty Lions 1-1 Meizhou Hakka 09/06/22
Meizhou Hakka latest home form
Meizhou Hakka have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having been winless in their five most recent matches. They drew 2-2 with Beijing Guoan in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded eight.
Meizhou Hakka 0-2 Wuhan Three Towns 30/11/21
Meizhou Hakka 1-2 Rongcheng 12/12/21
Meizhou Hakka 1-1 Kunshan 22/12/21
Meizhou Hakka 1-1 Tianjin JMT 04/06/22
Meizhou Hakka 2-2 Beijing Guoan 17/06/22
Meizhou Hakka latest away form
Meizhou Hakka have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having won just one of their five most recent matches. They lost 1-0 to Tianjin JMT in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored three goals and conceded four.
Wuhan Three Towns 1-0 Meizhou Hakka 18/12/21
Cangzhou Mighty Lions 1-1 Meizhou Hakka 09/06/22
Shenzhen 1-2 Meizhou Hakka 13/06/22
Rongcheng 0-0 Meizhou Hakka 20/06/22
Tianjin JMT 1-0 Meizhou Hakka 25/06/22
Cangzhou Mighty Lions latest home form
Cangzhou have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having lost just one of their eight most recent matches. They drew 1-1 with Beijing Guoan in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored four goals and conceded four.
Cangzhou Mighty Lions 2-0 Dalian Pro 31/12/21
Cangzhou Mighty Lions 1-1 Meizhou Hakka 09/06/22
Cangzhou Mighty Lions 0-0 Rongcheng 12/06/22
Cangzhou Mighty Lions 0-2 Tianjin JMT 21/06/22
Cangzhou Mighty Lions 1-1 Beijing Guoan 25/06/22
Cangzhou Mighty Lions latest away form
Cangzhou have recently kept a patchy run of form on the road, as they have won just two of their five most recent matches. They lost 1-0 to Shenzhen in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and also conceded five.
Dalian Pro 1-2 Cangzhou Mighty Lions 18/12/21
Shanghai Shenhua 1-1 Cangzhou Mighty Lions 28/12/21
Tianjin JMT 1-0 Cangzhou Mighty Lions 03/01/22
Beijing Guoan 1-2 Cangzhou Mighty Lions 05/06/22
Shenzhen 1-0 Cangzhou Mighty Lions 17/06/22
Meizhou Hakka news
Xueming Liang is a major doubt for the Wednesday’s contest after he was withdrawn with an injury 32 minutes into the game against Tianjin JMT.
Nunez Bravo had to make do with a place on the bench last time out but a recall to the starting XI is a posibility here.
Cangzhou Mighty Lions news
Shihao Piao marked his return to action with a first-ever goal for Cangzhou last time out and the midfielder heads into the contest looking to add onto his tally.
Xiangshuo Zhang will be pushing for a start in this game after making his debut for the season last time out.
Prediction and Odds
Cangzhou have struggled in front of goal in recent occasions and are winless in their last five league matches, a trent that could continue here.
Meizhou have not been particularly great in attack either but we fancy them to pick up a positive result with the home advantage on their side.
Odds: 1 1.90 X 2.00 2 2.15
Probable outcomes
Meizhou Hakka 1-0 Cangzhou Mighty Lions
Meizhou Hakka 2-0 Cangzhou Mighty Lions
Meizhou Hakka 2-1 Cangzhou Mighty Lions
Meizhou Hakka 0-0 Cangzhou Mighty Lions
Meizhou Hakka 1-1 Cangzhou Mighty Lions
