Here we are with a titanic matchup between Qingdao Hainiu and Shanghai Shenhua. Both teams grinning like Cheshire cats at a cheese convention, itching to snatch victory from the jaws of slight-to-moderate embarrassment.
Minding the old onion bag for Shanghai, we've got Yaxiong Bao, while Pengfei Mou decides to dip his fingers in the proverbial custard for Qingdao Hainiu. Expect plenty of flying saves and grubby jerseys.
Looking at Shanghai's arsenal, one rises from the crowd - André Luis, with his balletic control, is a major threat, closely shadowed by Xi Wu and Fernandinho. Their boot to ball calculations have been making Einstein scratch his head, with the last delivering pinpoint passes 76% of the time.
On Qingdao's end, ladies and gentlemen, hold onto your hats as Evans Kangwa, with 2 goals from his last dabble, is set to light fireworks. Martin Boakye and Elvis Sarić dust off the old one-two as well, and even though they haven't tickled the old onion bag yet, they're itching to create some havoc.
However, it doesn't take the genius of a pigeon smashing a keyboard to figure out that history favors Shanghai Shenhua who took our delightful Qingdao to the cleaners in a previous 2-nil match. Qingdao seems to be allergic to winning, with a rather tragic 7-5-14 record so far. Contrastingly our Shanghai comrades, with a 21-4-1 record, seem to be lapping up victories like a dog in a bacon factory.
Recently, Shanghai have been on a heater rivaling the sun's core but did stumble against Beijing Guoan. However, the Qingdao folks have developed a slight defeatist streak, losing the last of their encounters against Nantong Zhiyun. So, as a vegan at a barbeque, they might just feel slightly uncomfortable.
Even though hope is the first step on the road to disappointment, I can't help but let that charming mistress give me a comforting pat. So without further ado, let's draw back the curtain on this footballing prediction.
Albert’s Prediction: Shanghai Shenhua by 2