Shanghai Shenhua vs Henan Songshan Longmen

Shanghai Shenhua and Henan Songshan Longmen will lock horns in the ultimate round of Chinese Super League fixtures at the Suzhou Sports Centre.

Despite drawing their last two Super League matches in a row, Shanghai Shenhua ensured another top-flight season long ago. Among sides battling in the relegation group, the ‘Flower of Shanghai’ have won more Super League games (9) and scored more goals (34) than any other team. Given their scoring proficiency, it comes as no surprise that Mao Yijun’s men have avoided defeat in 50% of their Super League fixtures when conceding first this term (GP8 – W1, D3, L4). What’s more, since falling to a 2-1 defeat to Changchun Yatai in the regular stage of the season, the hosts have gone unbeaten in their last four Super League home outings (W3, D1), scoring an average of 2.25 goals per game in that spread of matches.

Meanwhile, Henan Songshan Longmen have established themselves as a defensive force to be reckoned with after keeping a clean sheet in their last four Super League games on the trot (W3, D1). However, the visitors have found goals hard to come by, scoring under 1.5 goals in six of their last seven league matches. In fact, the ‘Red Devils’ have netted a league joint-low five Super League goals away from home this season, averaging just 0.5 goals per game. If you’re looking for second-half action, avoiding Henan could be a wise choice, as they’ve netted just twice beyond half-time across ten Super League travels this term. By contrast, before slumping to a 2-0 defeat in their most recent top-flight visit to Shanghai in September 2020, they had scored precisely twice per match in four consecutive away league H2Hs beforehand.