Shanghai Shenhua vs Shandong Taishan Prediction: Taishan Dui Still The Best In Business!

The long-awaited Chinese Super League has begun, and the Shanghai Stadium will host the opening round match between Shanghai Shenhua vs Shandong Taishan.

Let's have a look at the latest Chinese Super League predictions between Shanghai Shenhua vs Shandong Taishan, match facts and up to date betting odds for you to consider!

Shanghai Shenhua

Shanghai Shenhua appeared to be the front-runners to take third place, but they began to lose focus during the most crucial parts of the season, which caused them to lose their position and finish the season in an illogical 10th place with 47 points, leaving everyone wondering how they even got there.

They were aware that their chances of winning the league championship, let alone finishing first, were slim given their sluggish start to the year compared to teams like Wuhan Three Towns and Shandong Taishan, who were far ahead of them in the standings after just the quarter of the season.

Since they had no other choice but to focus on the CFA competition, they did so successfully, winning four straight games to advance to the semifinals, where they were unfortunate to lose 2:0 despite giving it their all to Shandong Taishan, the defending champions.

They last won the league championship in 1995 while Xu Genbao was their coach, and since then, they have only been able to scrape by. With Wu Young's addition around a year ago, they have made some observable progress, so hopefully this season will be different.

Shandong Taishan

In the previous season, Taishan Dui's bid for a second straight league title was unsuccessful as they finished in second place with 78 points, level on points with newly promoted Wuhan Three Towns, who ruled out their title hopes by taking first place, albeit by a goal differential.

Unfortunately for Taishan Dui, who many people considered to be among the most formidable teams to ever play in the CSL, they were outclassed by teams like Urawa Red Diamonds, Daegu FC, and Lion City Sailors FC in the AFC Champions League, where they were given an early exit and eliminated from the group stages as they finished fourth in Group F.

They only managed to get one point in six games, and that was against Lion City Sailors FC (0:0), which was far from a positive outcome. Their defense was also a worst-case scenario for them, as they surrendered a staggering 24 goals. However, they can rest easy knowing that Guangzhou FC, their bitter rival in the CSL, also allowed the same number of goals as them.

However that didn't bring them down as they moved forward to defeat Zhejiang Professional FC on the road (2:1) in the final of the CFA Cup, which was their eighth trophy of the edition to be added to their cabinet, to assuage their sorrows for their less than stellar performance in the AFC Champions League and their failure to win their second consecutive League title.

Match Facts

• Shanghai Shenhua has lost one of their last five Super League matches against Shandong Taishan.
• In their last five Super League games against Shanghai Shenhua, Shandong Taishan has only won one.
• When playing at home, Shanghai Shenhua averages 1.44 goals per game, while Shandong Taishan averages 1.84 goals per game.

Head-To-Head

In the last 32 meetings, Shanghai Shenhua has won 10 times, Shandong Taishan has won 14 times, and there have been 8 draws, with Shandong Taishan winning 47-35 on goal differential.

Expert Betting Tips

Shandong Taishan's supremacy in their first game against Shanghai Shenhua, whom they defeated 2:0 on the road the previous season shall surely be witnessed here as they'll be aiming for a repeat of that result in this match. 

Shandong Taishan are the bookmakers' favorites to win their opening game of the season, and they come at an appealing price to do so and there's no doubting their success in this encounter.

• Full-time Result - Shandong Taishan for 1.94
• Corners - Under 9 for 1.83
• Total 2 - Over 1.5 for1.85