Qingdao FC vs Chongqing Liangjiang prediction, preview, team news and more | Chinese Super League 2021
Qingdao FC host Chongqing Liangjiang at the Tianhe Stadium on Saturday in the Chinese Super League, hoping to get their second win of the season.
Having started their new campaign with a slender 2-1 victory against Cangzhou Mighty Lions, Qingdao have gone the next three games without a win, including back-to-back losses in their last two outings.
Head coach Wu Jingui will demand more from his side, who finished second from bottom last year, though Chongqing won't make it easy.
Their trajectory has been the exact opposite of Qingdao and finally picked up their first win of the season against Henan Songshan Longmen on Sunday. They fought back from two goals down to beat them 3-2.
Having marched all the way to the quarter-finals last year, it wasn't the best start to their new campaign, but Chang Woe-ryong's side are finally back in their groove.
Qingdao FC vs Chongqing Liangjiang Head-To-Head
In four previous clashes between the sides, Qingdao have never beaten Chongqing, who have won twice, while the other two games have ended in draws.
The same fixture last season ended with a resounding 3-0 victory for Chongqing in September. Could a repeat be on the cards?
Qingdao FC Form Guide (all competitions): L-L-D-W
Chongqing Liangjiang Form Guide (all competitions): W-D-L-L
Qingdao FC vs Chongqing Liangjiang Team News
Qingdao FC
Since its early days of the season, there have been no injury concerns for coach Jingui yet. However, full-back Zhu Ting is suspended from the clash for getting sent off against Shandong Taishan in their last match.
So that means Haocheng Zhang is likely to start again at the right-back spot.
Injured: None
Suspended: Zhu Ting
Unavailable: None
Chongqing Liangjiang
Having clinched their first victory of the season, Chang Woe-ryong might opt to field the same line as last time, which means another game on the bench for Qing Wu and Bahtiyar Peyzullah.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Qingdao FC vs Chongqing Liangjiang Predicted XI
Qingdao FC (4-2-3-1): Zhenli Liu; Haochen Zhang, Jiashen Liu, Peng Li, Wei Wang; Peng Lu, Fredrik Ulvestad; Xiang Gao, Denis Popovic, Bari Muhammetali; Dejan Radonjic.
Chongqing Liangjiang (5-3-2): Zhao Chen; Jin Feng, Shuai Yang, Xiang Zhang, Le Liu, Xingbo Zhang; Jie Chen, Xiyang Huang, Congyao Yin; Fernandinho Silva, Miler Bolanos.
Qingdao FC vs Chongqing Liangjiang Prediction
With neither side in particularly bright form so far, don't expect fireworks like in their last clash.
Both teams will be looking to avoid yet another defeat and their cautious approach might only result in a low-scoring draw.
Prediction: Qingdao FC 1-1 Chongqing Liangjiang