Comparing one of the jewels of the Chinese Super League (CSL) to English Premier League (EPL) powerhouse Manchester City may seem like a pipe dream, yet at the tail end of the 2024 season, one-time champions Wuhan Sanzhen have fallen to a position below promoted Shenzhen Xinpengcheng in the CSL standings.
A Battle in the Spotlight: Wuhan Three Towns vs Shenzhen New Pengcheng
Match specification: 21st round of Chinese Super League
Showdown time: August 3, 20:00
In the real-time data of the Chinese Super League standings, Wuhan Three Town only achieved 6 wins, 5 draws and 10 losses after 21 rounds and ranked ninth with 23 points, while Shenzhen Xinpengcheng accumulated 24 points with 6 wins, 6 draws and 9 losses, one point ahead of Wuhan Three Town and ranked 10th.
Wuhan Sanzhen, alongside Shandong Taishan, has a long history of frequent changes to its foreign aid lineup. In the summer transfer window, Wuhan Three Town brought in four U21 ladder players and waived the 28-year-old Portuguese striker Jokka. Jokka's previous performances in the Portuguese Super League's Aviva were unimpressive, contributing only four goals and two assists in the 2023-24 season. Despite the high expectations of the team and local media, Wakka has been left with no goals and no assists in three matches in the Superliga.
After losing 0:2 to Shanghai Shenhua at home in the last round, Wuhan Sanzhen has not won any of their last three matches with 2 draws and 1 loss. Captain Jiang Zhipeng was sent off with a red card after mouthing off to the side judge during the match and will be suspended for this round.
Shenzhen Xinpengcheng has been in eye-catching performance recently, beating Beijing Guoan 1:0 at home in the last round, remaining undefeated in the last two rounds, with two wins and two draws in the last four rounds.
The two teams have met five times in China B, China A and China Super League, with Wuhan Three Town holding a slight advantage with two wins, two draws and one loss. In the first round of this season's Chinese Super League, the two sides drew 1:1 on the road.
As a famous "home ground bug", Wuhan Sanzhen only got 1 draw and 5 losses in their last 6 home matches in the league. Despite the limited strength of their opponents, Wuhan Sanzhen is unlikely to win this match, while Shenzhen New Pengcheng is expected to remain undefeated at least.
