At 19:35 on the evening of May 6, the fifth round of the Chinese Super League will play a highly anticipated game, Shanghai Harbor, the Chinese Super League giants will be away to challenge Tianjin Jinmen Tiger.
After the first four rounds of the Chinese Super League, Shanghai Harbor's new atmosphere in the new season swept away last season's slump, with three wins and one draw in four games, no defeats, and 10 points, temporarily occupying the leading position in the Chinese Super League. However, Shanghai Harbor's first place in the Chinese Super League is not stable. Shanghai Shenhua, the second-ranked rival in the same city, has the same number of points as Shanghai Seaport and is only in second place due to a goal difference of one less. Therefore, if Shanghai Seaport wants to stabilize the first place in the Chinese Super League, they have to get rid of the gap with Shenhua in the next game.
With this in mind, Shanghai Hong Kong head coach Javier Pereira will be going all out against the Tianjin Jinmen Tigers in this round, sacrificing the strongest elite starters he can field as much as possible. Below is a brief prediction of the starting lineup that SIPG may field for this match.
In the goalkeeping position, national team No. 1 keeper Yan Junling is the natural keeper; in the backline, Javier Pereira will still sacrifice his usual four-guard formation, with naturalized international Jiang Guangtai teaming up with local Iron goalkeeper Zhang Linpeng to form the Shanghai double centre-back combination; on the left and right sides, Wang Junchao will still team up with guest defender Lv Wenjun to play an important part in attacking and defending the transition together.
In the midfield, there is no doubt that the main midfielder responsible for intercepting and sweeping in Hong Kong's center back will still be the decorated veteran Choi Wai Hong; Evergrande veteran Xu Xin should partner Choi Wai Hong to form a double midfield. In front of the double back, there are no surprises. Brazilian ace Oscar will still be the attacking commander of Shanghai's midfield, sorting out dispatches, feeding the cake with passes, and dominating the attack up front.
Shanghai Seaport's forward line should be led by 32-year-old newly-recruited center forward Marcus Pinko, who will fight for his team up front. And partnering Pinko in the front three will be homegrown ace winger Wu Lei and his former Spaniard teammate Argentine Vargas.
To summarize, the expected starting lineup of SIPG against Tianjin Jinmen Tigers is: Yan Junling; Lu Wenjun, Jiang Guangtai, Zhang Linpeng, Wang; Cai Huikang, Xu Xin, Oscar; Vargas, Pinko, Wu Lei
