So we get a Friday night fight at Gongti between Guoan and last year's 1st Division champions, Jiangsu Sainty. Guoan is undefeated in all competitions so far this season, winning both matches they played at home by convincing fashion whereas Jiangsu has yet to earn a point in 2 matches this season, however that includes a late defeat against Shanghai and an unlucky loss last week, so don't expect this Jiangsu squad to be a total pushover.
In team news, Joel Griffiths will be sitting this one out after his questionable red card last week, which means Lee Jangsoo has a choice to make who he'll put up top, most likely to pair with Martinez. Guo Hui, Du Wenhui, and Yan Xiangchuang are all possibilities, but my guess is that it will be Du as Lee's liked to use him as a sub and will want to help him get his confidence back after the blown shot last week. It's also very likely that Paul won't see himself suiting up tomorrow and that our two injured veterans, Zhang Yonghai and Zhou Ting, will suit up. Most likely neither will be included in the starting lineup (or at least Zhou won't be), but I'd expect Lee to try and give them both some time in the game.
It will be interesting if the shortened week of practice helped sort out the Martinez/Huang Bowen difficulties. It seems Martinez likes the ball at his feet and needs to play in the hole behind a striker because he's the typical small, stocky(ish) South American forward and the CSL is all about the big man up top. The problem could be solved with Huang on the wing or, best of all, getting them to work together.
The last time these two squads met was back in 1994, when they were both founding members of the then brand new Jia A League. However, Jiangsu manager Pei Encai has a lot of experience going head-to-head against Guoan as former coach of Bayi and Wuhan and has earned himself 2 wins and 3 draws in 6 matches against the side.
Expect some Friday fireworks at Gongti and the fans are surely going to be out in masse and ready for this opportunity. As for me, I'll be making a stop by the Den before the match and then staying in the area afterwords for a drink or two (or possibly even hitting up Mix on a long bar crawl). It's sure to be a great night, but Guoan has got to win this one.
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