CSL 18th round: Shandong Taishan hosts Wuhan Sanzhen, the battle of Tianwangshan is about to be staged
Shandong Taishan prefecture level city in Shandong
The defending champions will meet the challenge of Wuhan Sanzhen in a battle that may decide the season's title.
In the standings, Wuhan three towns with 15 wins and 1 draw record of 43 points to lead the way, has locked the halfway championship in advance; while Shandong Taishan 13 wins and 3 losses in 16 battles to accumulate 39 points in the second place; Henan and Shenhua with 30 points respectively in the third and fourth.
Since the 1-1 draw with Shenhua on June 12, Wuhan Sanzhen won 12 straight games, only one less than the 13 consecutive wins record of Shandong Luneng and Guangzhou Evergrande; while Shandong Taishan was undefeated for 8 consecutive games after the 0-2 defeat against Zhejiang on June 25, but the momentum of the streak was blocked by the 1-2 loss to Shenhua in the last game.
A tit-for-tat battle is about to take place.
The two teams with the best strength and performance in the Chinese Super League this year are undoubtedly Wuhan Sanzhen and Shandong Taishan.
According to the official Chinese Super League data provider OPTA, Shandong Taishan had an outstanding performance on the offensive end, averaging 61.2% possession, 11,325 touches, 8,580 passes, a pass success rate of 86.2%, 210 chances created, 20 assists, 34 goals, 273 shots on goal, 197 unblocked shots, and 93 shots on target.
Wuhan Sanzhen scored 51 goals, created 196 chances, 35 assists, 285 shots, 217 unblocked shots and 113 shots on goal on the offensive end.
Shandong Taishan had 808 successful counter-strikes on the defensive end, 105 shots on goal, 35 shots on target, 12 goals conceded, 158 blocks, one turnover resulting in a shot on goal, 202 shovels, 174 clearances and 21 blocked shots.
Wuhan Sanzhen conceded just nine goals on the defensive end, with turnovers resulting in zero shots on goal, 108 shots on target, 46 shots on goal, 728 successful counterattacks, 211 shovels, 178 clearances, 128 blocks and 20 blocked shots.
In terms of playing style, Shandong Taishan focus on ball control, looking for opportunities through passing, creating many opportunities, full of pressure; and Wuhan Sanzhen average possession rate of 52.8%, ranked 6th, the Chinese Super League average possession rate of more than 50% of the team only 8, three towns are also counted as a pass-control type of team, creating many opportunities to face the strength of the weaker teams in the pressure is also strong.
The difference is that Wuhan Three Town can lower their possession rate when facing strong teams, but it still doesn't stop them from creating chances in offense. For example, in the previous double-killing of last season's double runner-up Shanghai Seaport, the first round's possession rate was 35.8%, and the second round's possession rate was even lower at only 28.4%, with the scores of the two matches being 2-1 and 1-0, respectively, but the chances created by Three Town in the matches were 15 and 8 chances, respectively.
Shandong Taishan's entire team is worth 16.63 million euros, 2nd in the Chinese Super League; Wuhan Sanzhen's entire team is worth 15.24 million euros, 3rd in the Chinese Super League; and 1st in line is Shanghai Harbor with 33.73 million euros.
In the summer window, Shandong Taishan welcomed back Guo Tianyu, who has been wasting time in the ocean for more than three months, and Wuhan Sanzhen signed Gao Mingyi, the younger brother of Gao Junyi, and then rented him out.
In the list of Chinese Super League scorers, Wuhan Sanzhen's foreign aid Malcolm scored 16 goals and ranked 1st, while he only used 45 shots on goal; he hit the target 23 times and ranked 2nd, second only to Guoan's Zhang Yuning.
In addition, Davidson scored 9 goals, Stanchou scored 7, Edmilson and Xie Pengfei scored 5 each; in addition to scoring 7 goals, Stanchou also gave out 8 assists, which is the current assist king in the Super League.
Shandong Taishan's foreign aid Cressan scored 8 goals in 8 consecutive matches and ranked 4th in the scorer's list, while Moises scored 5 goals and ranked 6th in the Chinese Super League with 5 assists, in addition to Fellaini and Jin Jingdao scoring 4 goals each.
The foreign aid of the two teams, both with super strength, looking at the current Chinese Super League, the absolute top match.
Nowadays, in the Chinese Super League, many teams are thinking about how to survive, 5 foreigners? That's a luxury!
Raise an army for a thousand days and use it for a while.
In a hard-fought game like this, the real hero is whoever can step up and be the one to change the team's fortunes.
From August 28th kicked off with the Shenzhen team, Wuhan three towns after the two games are postponed (if not postponed perhaps 13 consecutive wins in the Chinese Super League record has long been broken), the team saves the journey to run, have a longer rest time, but half a month without a game, the rhythm of the previous break, the state of how to, it's not too good to say.
Shandong Taishan this side of the situation is not good to go, the last game has also been August 31, but also lost, the good thing is that there is plenty of time to adjust, but injuries are still a problem, manager Hao Wei said before the game, Fellaini can not be on it is not easy to say.
Less than 1 game ahead of 4 points, this for Wuhan three towns "can afford to lose", but Shandong Taishan can be "can not afford to lose", if the home lost, but also lost to the direct rival of the championship, but also by the opponent to equalize their own record, more than 1 game and then 7 points behind, then the championship suspense may be over. This season's championship suspense may be over.
Say more, to the court, but also the strength to speak, the stage has been set, the next to see how the two teams sing a good show.
The Chinese Super League, and even China's national soccer team, is in so much need of a good and classic game!
