On July 27th at 8:00pm, the 9th round of Guangzhou Super League will kick off with Guangzhou facing Shandong Taishan at home in Tianti. Before the match, the head coach Cannavaro stated firmly: we must go all out to fight for three points, the key to win is to score more goals than the Shandong team!
Shandong currently tops the table in Guangzhou with 18 points, while Guangzhou is in second place with a 3-point difference. Both teams have a goal difference of 11. Looking back at the first round of the match in April, Guangzhou lost 0-1 to Shandong, and it was Fellaini who made the killer blow in stoppage time. If Guangzhou can win tonight's match, they have a chance to overtake Shandong and jump to the top of the Guangzhou Division.
Cannavaro also acknowledged the power of Shandong in his pre-match conference, believing it to be an extremely tough matchup. "Tomorrow's match with Shandong is the first big battle, which is a good test for us. Shandong has the most significant improvement in strength among the Chinese Super League teams this year, not only has it brought in prospective internationals, but also several new foreigners, which makes its strength quite balanced." He said.
Kasai pointed out that compared to the first phase in April, Guangzhou team has changed dramatically in terms of data. "It's not up to me, many data can be compared and analyzed. From the first stage to now, our data has changed drastically in terms of the number of attacks, the number of shots on goal, the rate of possession, especially the effective possession rate in the opponent's half of the field. We are in a good position, the only thing we are not satisfied with is the number of goals conceded. After Paulinho and Talisca left, many people, including myself, mentally considered whether the attacking stats would go down or not, but I'm delighted with the numbers now. As long as the players have the desire to win and the mentality to enjoy soccer, goals won't be far away!"
Last round of Guangzhou Derby, Guangzhou team had huge consumption. Kasper will rotate appropriately this time, he thinks the non-national team players are in better physical condition and the international players are more exhausted. But no matter what, their goal is to beat the opponent and win three points.
The last time the two sides met, Fellaini's header helped Shandong complete the shutout. How to contain Fellaini this time? Kasai believes that Fellaini often scores headers even in the English Premier League, let alone in the Chinese Super League. "His position in Shandong is not fixed, but now can also score four goals, the strength is very strong. Only if we ourselves score more goals, we can form the best containment for him." Kasai said.
Hao Wei said Shandong team has been well prepared, the goal is to keep the game attention, and strive to get three points. For Artemisia Junmin, who has been transferred to Wuhan, Hao Wei expressed his blessing, believing that it was Artemisia Junmin's own request and Wuhan has provided a lot of help.
Jin Jingdao provided a key assist for Fellaini in the first round win over Guangzhou. But this time, he is out for two weeks with ligament damage in his left ankle. Ji Xiang was also injured in yesterday's training session and it remains to be seen if he will be able to play tomorrow night.
Tonight at 6pm, Guangzhou City will face off with Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic in Huadu. Guangzhou City has failed to win in the last four rounds and has not won in five consecutive rounds, despite drawing the last round of the "Guangzhou Derby" against Guangzhou. Chongqing, on the other hand, has lost four consecutive matches and is currently at the bottom of the Guangzhou division.
Guangzhou City boss Van Garst said his team made a larger rotation in the last round of matches and the tactical effect satisfied him. He reviewed the Derby match and studied Chongqing's game in the last round, and is confident to find the weakness of the opponent tomorrow. As for whether the team will continue to attract reinforcements this summer after Wen Yasen's return to the team, Fan admitted that they have no plan to introduce foreign reinforcements for the time being, both in terms of the operational difficulty of foreign aid entry and in terms of the club's budget.
Chongqing manager Zhang Wailong believes that the team is in a difficult situation, but the good news is that some of their foreign aid has returned, and the team is really complete from this moment on. Among them, Brazilian foreign aid "Big Motorcycle" Fernandio said: "From now on, we can finally prepare for the game with a complete lineup, I didn't play in the previous two rounds, but I'm in good health now. We need a win now!"
