Beijing Guoan vs Guangzhou Evergrande Match Preview

Beijing Guoan will try to make the most of the fact that they play the first leg of the playoffs semi-finals at home. They took care of Shandong Luneng in the previous stage, where, after the 2-2 draw on the road they won 2-1 at home and advanced. Now things are a bit more complicated, as Guangzhou Evergrande has had a great season.

Anyway having the best offensive side from both groups should be of big help for Beijing Guoan here. Not only they scored 36 goals during the regular season, but they kept averaging at least two goals per game even in the playoffs so far. In the two duels against Shandong Luneng, they had 18 shots on target which shows what kind of attacking football they are playing.

Guangzhou Evergrande, on the other hand, had an easy duel against Hebei as they won 1-3 on the road which pretty much had sealed the deal already, and after that went on and made things worse for Hebei winning 5-0 at home. In their group, Guangzhou finished first and was never at risk of losing the 1st spot to the following teams.

Their offensive side has been quite good too with 31 goals during the regular season and then eight in two games in the playoffs. By the odds, they are the favorites not just to win here, but also to advance to the finals. Anyway, I do not think it will be as easy as the odds suggest.

In conclusion, I think both teams can score at least a goal here. Beijing Guoan has had a very strong attack this season and on an important game like this, I expect them to find the back of the net at least once at home. Guangzhou Evergrande is the team with more experience here and despite being on the road I guess they have enough quality to score a goal against Beijing.