The Puwan Stadium plays hosts to a highly-anticipated Wuhan derby as Wuhan Three Towns lock horns with Wuhan FC on Friday.
The hosts will be seeking a record sixth Super League victory on the spin, while the Han Army head into the weekend off the back of ending their four-game losing streak.
Match preview
Wuhan Three Towns maintained their impressive run of results as they claimed a 4-2 home victory over Shanghai Shenhua when the sides squared off last Sunday.
Brazilian forward Marcao maintained his red-hot form in front of goal as he grabbed a hat-trick to put the hosts in a commanding lead before Jianrong Zhu struck twice in the final 12 minutes to reduce the deficit.
Pedro Morilla's side, who are unbeaten this season, head into the weekend on a five-game winning streak and have picked up seven victories from their opening eight so far.
This impressive start to the season has been in no small part owing to the superb job at the attacking end of the pitch, where they currently hold the division's best record with 27 goals scored this season.
With 22 points from eight games, Wuhan Three Towns are currently top of the Chinese Super League standings, one point above second-placed Shandong Taishan.
Meanwhile, Wuhan returned to winning ways last time out as they saw off Guangzhou FC 2-1 when the sides squared off at the Jinzhou Stadium on Monday.
Asmir Kajevic netted in the 18th minute to hand the Han Army a first-half lead, and after Liyu Yang levelled matters in the 59th minute, Felicio Brown Forbes restored the hosts' lead with 12 minutes left to play.
Prior to that, Wuhan opened the season with three consecutive victories before suffering defeat in each of their subsequent four outings, conceding nine goals and scoring three in that time.
Li Jinyu's side have now won four and lost four of their 12 games to collect 12 points and sit ninth in the league table, level on points with eighth-placed Zhejiang.
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
Team News
Marcao turned in a sensational performance at the weekend, grabbing three goals to see off Shanghai Shenhua, and we expect the Brazilian international to spearhead the Wuhan Three Towns' attack.
The 28-year-old currently leads the Super League top scorer's chart with eight goals in eight appearances and he will certainly be one to keep an eye on.
Nicolae Stanciu, who has also racked up five goals and five assists, will provide an extra goalscoring threat from midfield, teaming up with Xiaobing Zhang and Chao He at the heart of the park.
Meanwhile, Xuan Han is a doubt for the visitors after the 27-year-old defender was hauled off injured in the 65th minute against Guangzhou FC last time out.
Should he fail a late fitness test, Liu Shangkun could push for his fourth appearance of the season, forming a back four with Peng Li, Bruno Viana and Chen Yuhao.
At the opposite end of the pitch, Forbes took his goal tally to four with his strike on Monday and we expect the former Nurnberg forward to lead the attack once again.
Wuhan Three Towns possible starting lineup:
Liu; Hang, Yaki, Zhang, Tao; He, Zhang, Stanciu, Luo; Davidson, Marcao
Wuhan possible starting lineup:
Wang; Shangkun, P Li, Viana, Yuhao; Liu, Nie, Kajevic; J Hu, Liu, Forbes
We say: Wuhan Three Towns 3-1 Wuhan
Newly-promoted Wuhan Three Towns have settled nicely in the big leagues and head into the weekend in stellar form. While Wuhan will be looking to build on Monday's victory, we are tipping the hosts to come out on top in the derby.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
