Perennial powerhouse team Beijing Guoan FC (1-3-3, 6 points) continues to struggle in the 2016 Chinese Super League season. They will meet last season's runner-up team, Shanghai SIPG FC (5-1-2, 17 points), on Saturday, May 14th at the Workers' Stadium to try and win their first home game this term.

Like Us on Facebook

Beijing has been one of the most consistent contenders in the China top flight through the years, but they are playing uncharacteristically poor this season especially at the offensive end since new head coach Alberto Zaccheroni arrived in January.

This prompted rumors of Zaccheroni's impending sacking, but there are no official reports or press releases yet regarding this matter.

The capital city squad fell to Jiangsu Suning FC, 1-2, also at their home field of Workers' Stadium last Sunday as the team is still winless at home, as reported by Shanghai Daily.

Croatian midfielder Sammir opened the scoring at the 14th minute of the match and was equalized by defender Zhao Hejing at the 24th. However, Jiangsu defender Li Ang netted the winning goal at the 64th to send the Imperial Guards to their third straight winless game.

Meanwhile, Shanghai SIPG is currently at the third spot of the league table, three points behind second-placed squad Jiangsu and four points below league leaders Guangzhou Evergrande.

The Red Eagles nipped middling club Shijiazhuang Ever Bright FC, 2-1, also last Sunday at the Yutong International Sports Center, as per Soccerway.

Shijiazhuang goalkeeper Guan Zhen scored the opening goal with a penalty kick at the 12th minute, but SIPG netted the next two, courtesy of Dario Conca and Wu Lei, to come away with the win and the three points in the overall standings.

The victory extended Shanghai's winning run to five games after starting the season on a three-game winless skid.

The predicted result is a 2-0 win for Shanghai SIPG.

Beijing Guoan starting lineup (4-1-2-2-1 formation): Yang; Zhao, Krimets, Lei, Zhang C.; Zhang X.; Ralf, Piao; Zhang X., Augusto; Yu

Shanghai SIPG starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Yan; Wang, Kim, Shi, Sun; Cai, Yu; Wu, Conca, Kouassi; Elkeson 

TagsChina Football, Chinese Super League, Chinese Super League 2016, beijing guoan fc, Shanghai SIPG FC