Beijing Guoan vs Meizhou Hakka

High-flying Meizhou Hakka take a trip to the Meixian Tsang Hin-Chi Stadium to take on Chinese Super League stalwarts Beijing Guoan.

Beijing Guoan eked out a 2-1 victory away to Tianjin Jinmen Tiger last time out, maintaining an almost perfect Chinese Super League start (W4, D3, L1). Indeed, since an underwhelming 2-1 home defeat to Cangzhou Mighty Lions on Matchday 1, they’ve gone unbeaten in all seven subsequent top-flight outings. That includes a run of two wins from their last three home league matches (D1), during which they netted five goals and conceded just one. However, scoring has not been Beijing’s strong suit by any stretch of the imagination. Barring a 4-1 thrashing of Shenzhen in mid-June, the ‘Imperial Guards’ have netted under 1.5 goals in five of their previous six home league fixtures, last season included.

Meanwhile, visiting Meizhou Hakka have gone from strength to strength following an abysmal run of three winless top-flight games (D2, L1), winning the last two in a row by an aggregate score of 4-1. Meizhou’s maiden Super League season has got off to a flying start, as they’ve only lost one of their opening eight league matches (W3, D4). However, they have picked up just one victory in their four top-flight away outings to date (D2, L1), averaging just 0.75 goals per game. On top of that, Milan Ristic’s men have drawn a blank on their last two league travels (D1, L1). That said, only three sides have bagged more first-half goals than Meizhou (6) this term, suggesting they could pose a threat from the get-go.