Underdog teams Henan Jianye FC (0-0-1, 1 point) and Liaoning Whowin FC (0-0-1, 1 point) will try to earn their first win of the season as they square off in a 2017 Chinese Super League second round match on March 12, Sunday at the Zhengzhou Hanghai Stadium.

Henan Jianye was almost relegated to the China League One this term after finishing 13th in the 15-team China top-flight standings last season. They were only three points away from relegation at that time.

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Manager Jia Xiuquan added three new foreign players this year, namely Czech midfielder Borek Dockal from Sparta Prague, Syrian defender Ahmad Al Salih from Al-Arabi, and Cameroonian winger Christian Bassogog from AaB Fodbold. Danish center-back Eddi Gomes was also called back from the reserve squad while Filipino striker Javier Patiño was retained.

The Red Devils opened their 2017 campaign with a 0-0 draw against Hebei China Fortune also at their home field of Zhengzhou Hanghai Stadium last Sunday, as per Soccerway.

Meanwhile, Liaoning Whowin settled to a 1-1 tie with last season's China League One runners-up Guizhou Zhicheng during the season's opening match last Friday on the road at the Guiyang Olympic Sports Center, the South China Morning Post reported. The game was played without an audience as Guizhou was penalized for crowd trouble in their final game against Tianjin Quanjian last season.

Team captain James Chamanga netted the opening goal for head coach Ma Lin's side with a converted penalty kick in the 14th minute. However, Guizhou import Nikica Jelavic found the equalizer with his own spot kick in the 54th minute to salvage the draw.

Liaoning lost goalkeeper Shi Xiaotian to a red card in the 65th, but the 10-man team was still able to hold on to the tie and a share of a point in the standings.

The predicted result is a close 1-0 victory by Liaoning Whowin.

Henan Jianye starting lineup (5-3-2 formation): Wu; Ke, Gu, Gomes, Chen, Ablet; Feng, Dockal, Zhong; Bassogog, Hu. Liaoning Whowin starting lineup (4-1-4-1 formation): Zhang Z.; Wang Q., Lang, Lukimya, Liu; Wang H.; Kruse, Ni, Zhang Y., Chamanga; Yang

TagsChinese Super League, Chinese Super League 2017, 2017 Chinese Super League, Henan Jianye FC, Liaoning Whowin FC