Preview:Nantong Zhiyun vs. Dalian Pro - prediction, team news, lineups

A crunch battle at the bottom sees Nantong Zhiyun entertain the challenge of Dalian Pro at the Rugao Olympic Sports Centre on Wednesday afternoon.

Both teams had to settle for a share of the spoils in their respective last outings and will be looking to go one better this time around.

Match preview

Dalian Pro played out a third consecutive draw as they were held to a 1-1 stalemate against Shanghai Port in Saturday's clash at the Shanghai Stadium.

Xie Hui's men opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time through Xiangchuang Yan but conceded an equaliser to Shenglong Li shortly afterwards.

As a result, the Blue Hawks remain bottom of the Chinese Super League table midway through the season, albeit just one point adrift of safety.

Next up is the task of facing off against an opposing outfit who suffered a 2-1 defeat in the only previous edition of this fixture back in April.

Unbeaten in their last three matches away from home, Wednesday's visitors have proven themselves to be a tough nut to crack on the road of late.

From the brink of victory, Nantong Zhiyun could only come away with a point from their encounter against Tianjin Jinmen Tiger, which ended in a 1-1 draw at the Olympic Sports Centre Stadium on Friday.

Gabri's men took the lead five minutes into the second period through Kang Cao but were pegged back in the final knockings by Weijun Xie.

Having picked up 11 points from their 15 matches so far, the Jiangsu-based side sit 13th in the standings, one point above the drop zone.

Currently with the fewest goals scored on home turf in the entire division, Wednesday's hosts will need to get going at the attacking end to stand any chance of securing a positive outcome in front of their fans.

Nantong Zhiyun Chinese Super League form:

Dalian Pro Chinese Super League form:

Team News

Vas Nunez received his marching orders in Dalian's draw against Shanghai last time out, ruling the defender out of contention to feature in this one.

This should see Jiahui Huang make an immediate return to the starting lineup having had to make do with a bench in the aforementioned match.

Thirty-six-year-old Xiangchuang Yan grabbed a double for the visiting team in the reverse fixture, making him one to keep an eye on here.

Rubilio Castillo remains unavailable for Nantong through injury, and the Honduras international is set to sit out a fourth game on the bounce.

Nantong Zhiyun possible starting lineup:

Xu; Ming, Yang, Andujar, Su; Gao, Wang, Guo, Merida, Ba; Beric

Dalian Pro possible starting lineup:

Wu; Wang, Huang, Wang, He; Wang, Lu; Tsonev, Bosancic, Lin; Manzoki

We say: Nantong Zhiyun 1-0 Dalian Pro

Neither team has been convincing of late, and Wednesday's game could easily swing either way. That said, we are backing the home side to come out on top at the end of the 90 minutes.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.