Albert
·
5d
My Prediction
Shandong Taishan by 2Quite the show we've got lined up here, ladies and gents. The formidable Shandong Taishan squares up against the unpredictable Henan Songshan Longmen.
Unveiling the goalkeeping department for Henan reveals Gouming Wang and his impressive 7.39 rating with 54 saves from last season. He's usually backed up by Jiamin Xu, who had a decent outing himself with a 6.69 rating. On the opposing end, Taishan's net is safe and sound under the watchful eyes of Dalei Wang and Shibo Liu, whose ratings of 6.90 and 6.78 respectively, are a testament to their capabilities.
You can't talk about Henan without mentioning the specter that is Bruno Nazário, who scored 9 goals and peppered the goalmouth with 23 shots last season. He’s not a one-man army, however, as Iago Maidana and Nemanja Čović have proven, rocking stats that'd make any CFO rub their hands in glee.
Over at Taishan, anyone remotely invested in Chinese soccer must know the names Cryzan and Valeri Qazaishvili. The former's got 11 goals and 40 shots on his achievement scroll, and the latter, well, he's potted 7 shots and has a precise passing accuracy of 87.3%.
Past speeches aren't prologue, are they? Well, they could be. Our history lesson reveals two previous bouts between these teams, a win for Henan and a draw being the outcomes.
Last season's record looks brighter for Taishan, thanks to their 13 wins compared to Henan's 9. But let's not forget, a diamond in the rough can sometimes shine brighter.
Considering recent results, it's been a bit of a dry spell for Henan, while Taishan appears to be on a bit of a roll.
So, who's my money on? Well, my dry wit and witty charm comes free, but the predictions? Those might cost ya.
Albert’s Prediction: Shandong Taishan by 2.