Shandong Luneng Taishan FC (1-0-0, 3 points) is set to host defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC (1-0-0, 3 points) in a 2017 Chinese Super League second round match at their home field of Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium on Friday, March 10.

Shandong Luneng won their season-opener last Saturday also at the Jinan Stadium as they blanked Tianjin Teda, 2-0, in a tightly-contested affair, as per Goal. The game was goalless for the first 78 minutes until local midfielder Liu Binbin broke the deadlock with a one-on-one goal against Tianjin keeper Du Jia.

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Senegalese striker Papiss Cissé then doubled the lead four minutes later with the assist coming from teammate Wu Xinghan to secure the season-opening victory for head coach Felix Magath's side.

It was a good start to the season for Taishan Dui after they were almost relegated to the China League One following a 14th place finish in the last term. Shandong was only two points away from relegation at that time.

Meanwhile, six-straight China top-flight champions Guangzhou Evergrande struggled in their own season-opened, but still managed to squeak out a 2-1 victory over old rivals Beijing Sinobo Guoan at their home ground of Tianhe Stadium last Sunday, Xinhuanet reported.

Brazilian midfielder Paulinho was the man of the match for World Cup-winning head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari as he scored both goals for the Southern China Tigers during the contest.

The former Tottenham Hotspur star opened the scoring in the 19th minute after receiving a pass from Huang Bowen. Beijing striker Burak Yilmaz was able to level the count with a spot kick in the 38th, but Paulinho scored again in the 87th to snatch away the win.

The predicted result is another 2-1 win for Guangzhou Evergrande. Shandong Luneng starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Wang D.; Qi, Dai, Gil, Song; Cui, Hao, Wang T., Jin; Cissé, Pell. Guangzhou Evergrande starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Zeng; Wang, Zhang, Feng, Chen; Xu, Paulinho; Huang, Goulart, Alan; Gao 

TagsChinese Super League, Chinese Super League 2017, 2017 Chinese Super League, Shandong Luneng Taishan FC, Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC