In the 2021 Premier League season, which kicked off on April 20, Shamrocks showed great strength.
With the opening date of the game getting closer and closer, the Chinese Super League teams are going all out to prepare for the game. This weekend, many Super League teams arranged a pre-season warm-up game to test the results of winter training. Although the results of the warm-up matches do not fully reflect the true level of each team, but still can be seen from the spot. So, which team is the most solid among this season's title contenders, and which is most likely to be in the lead at the end of the first five rounds of the season? Let's take a look at the teams' warm-up performances to find the "clues".
Although the Chinese Football Association has not yet announced the specific schedule for the new season, but in the case of making way for the National Football League 40, the first five rounds of the Chinese Super League has been basically determined. From the point of view of the current preparation of the teams, this season's Super League title contenders group in addition to Guangzhou, Shanghai Harbor, Beijing Guoan and Shandong Taishan, should also include Shanghai Shenhua and Shenzhen team. Especially the Shenzhen team in the winter transfer window to introduce a lot of strong aid, this season's goal is at least to obtain the qualification of the AFC Champions League.
From mid-March to now, the warm-up matches show that Shanghai Harbor, Shenzhen and Shanghai Shenhua have the strength to hit the top of the list, while the "eight champions" Guangzhou team because of the personnel is not the overall strength of the impact. Shandong Taishan is currently in poor condition, the last four warm-up games only achieved a victory, conceding as many as 13 goals, the two main foreign aid Guedes and Moises failed to return to the team has a huge impact. Beijing Guoan's last two warm-up matches were also unsatisfactory, first 2:3 against the Central League team Nantong Zhiyun, and then 0:0 draw with Zhejiang, in the case of Augusto and Fernando can not return to the team, the first stage of the new season is difficult to do.
As an eight-time Chinese Super League title winner, Guangzhou has been playing an unusually low-key game this season. Due to injuries and the participation of some players in national team training, they have not played any warm-up matches recently. The most recent warm-up game was on the afternoon of March 19, when Guangzhou beat Zhejiang, a team that played with a full Chinese class, 6-2. Up to now, Guangzhou has played 4 warm-up matches, with 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, and the only loss was an unexpected 3:4 defeat against Cangzhou Lions on February 27th. Overall, affected by the many injuries and illnesses of the players and the inability of Talisca and Paulinho to return, Guangzhou's fighting strength for the new season is likely to drop dramatically.
In contrast, the two Shanghai teams have performed much better in their warm-up matches, and both teams have foreign aid in place. on April 3, Shanghai Seaport won 4:1 against Suzhou Dongwu in the Central League, and achieved an undefeated streak of eight games in warm-up matches. In the warm-up matches that have been played, Shanghai Seaport also beat Qingdao 3:0 and Shandong Taishan 5:0, a very impressive performance. At present, the only regret of Shanghai Seaport is that foreign aid Maistorovic is out for the season due to injury, but this is not a big impact on the whole team. Shanghai Shenhua in the same day in the warm-up game 2:1 victory over Henan Songshan Longmen, and this competition they did not send all the main force, some players in the national team training, Peng Xinli and Zhu Chenjie have injuries. It is understood that manager Choi Kang-hee only sent a substitute lineup in the first half, and only part of the main force in the second half, and now the team is in good condition in all aspects.
