Qingdao Hainiu will face Nantong Zhiyun, also a promoted horse, at their home stadium Qingdao Youth Soccer Stadium at 19:35 on Sunday, September 24, in an important match in the 26th round of the 2023 Chinese Super League season. Prior to the match, Qingdao Hainiu Football Club released a ticket notice for the match in advance.
Before the start of the match, Qingdao Hainiu was in 13th place with 23 points, while Nantong Zhiyun was in 14th place with 19 points.The two teams were 5 and 1 points ahead of the relegation zone, so the match was a very important relegation battle, which could be worth 6 points.
As two teams that worked their way up together in the Central League, Nantong Zhiyun and Qingdao Hainiu can be considered quite familiar. There have been two meetings between the two teams in this season's Chinese Super League (CSL) and Football Association Cup (F.A.C. Cup) matches. In the first round of the Chinese Super League, Nantong Zhiyun won a 1-0 victory over Qingdao Hainiu with a goal from veteran Wang Song, earning them three valuable points. In the quarterfinals of the AFC Cup, Qingdao Hainiu knocked out Nantong Zhiyun 3-0 on the road, relying on two goals from newcomer Sharic and a goal from Ma Xingyu, and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals.
These two teams will now face each other again. Qingdao Hainiu, playing at home, will surely hope to get three points to consolidate their relegation advantage. Nantong Zhiyun, on the other hand, is on the verge of relegation and is even more eager to win. Therefore, this game is destined to be a tough battle.
Looking at the current situation, Qingdao Hainiu showed advantages. In addition to knocking out Nantong Zhiyun in the AFC Cup, they also beat Changchun Yatai 1-0 at home. Nantong Jiyun, on the other hand, suffered three consecutive defeats in double matches. Since they are only one point ahead of Dalianjin, who are in the relegation zone, they may be overtaken by Dalianjin if they make a slight mistake in the coming matches. Against this backdrop, Nantong Zhiyun is facing more relegation pressure than Qingdao Hainiu.
In addition, Qingdao Hainiu will have 9 days of rest after the match against Shandong Taishan, while Nantong Zhiyun only had 7 days of rest after their last match against Chengdu Rongcheng, which means they had 2 days less rest. Obviously, from the perspective of physical reserve, Qingdao Hainiu also has more advantages.
If Qingdao Hainiu get 3 points in this match, they will surpass Nantong Zhiyun by 7 points, which will basically make them reach the relegation target of this season's Chinese Super League ahead of schedule, as there are only 4 rounds left in the season. Of course, if Nantong Zhiyun beat Qingdao Haiyun in this match, they will only be 1 point behind their rivals, and the relegation situation will become more urgent and uncertain.
In addition, this is the penultimate home game of the season for Qingdao Hainiu in the Chinese Super League, as well as a crucial relegation battle. Combined with a wait of over ten days beforehand, the combination of these factors will make the Youth Football Stadium a very hot place to play. Let's wait and see how the match goes.
