The eleventh round sees some exciting games in all parts of the table, including a derby.
Friday starts off with league leader Guangzhou Evergrande welcoming Chongqing Lifan to the Tianhe Stadium. Lifan has not won in their last six, a win against Guizhou on 14th of April, and should struggle massively against the unbeaten-in-ten Evergrande. They have not dropped a single point in the league since the draw against city rivals R&F in the beginning of April, having won the last six league matches.
Speaking of Evergrande’s cross-town rivals Guangzhou R&F, they play Shanghai Shenhua later on Friday. R&F are into a really tough program and have not won in the league since the 2-1 win over Jiangsu Suning in April. The last three matches have seen them face Shandong Luneng, Hebei and Beijing Guoan. Shenhua are not in good form having lost twice and drawn once in the last three matches, and this could be a close one due to both teams poor form, despite Shenhua being down in ninth place.
On Saturday, Jiangsu Suning travels to Guiyang to play Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng. Guizhou are sitting pretty in eighth place with twelve points and three wins from the last five. Jiangsu were back to “normal” with a loss to Evergrande after beating Shandong the weekend prior. Guizhou are favourites here and could actually climb into outside contention for the ACL places with a win here.
Mid-table side Liaoning Whowin take on bottom of the table Yanbian Funde but neither team is in good form and if Yanbian wants to get away from the last place, this could be a game to do it in.
One of two main events of Saturday is Shanghai SIPG and Beijing Guoan who face off on Saturday afternoon. Beijing Guoan are in real danger of losing contact with the teams ahead if their shaky form continues, while SIPG really needs a win to keep Evergrande on their toes and within touching distance.
The other main game is the Tianjin Derby with newly promoted Tianjin Quanjian hosting Tianjin TEDA. The hosts are better placed sitting in seventh while TEDA are sitting in 10th and could actually leapfrog their rival with a win here.
The final game of Saturday sees third-placed Hebei China Fortune take on Changchun Yatai who sit one point above the relegation zone. This should be an easy enough win for Hebei who has not lost in four matches while Changchun has lost two of the last five, drawing one and winning the last two.
The last match of the round is on Sunday and is a really important match for both teams. Shandong Luneng welcomes Henan Jianye to their home and Shandong needs a win to sneak into the ACL spot while Henan is in the relegation zone and need a win to leave it.