Another high-profile Guangzhou derby between Guangzhou R&F FC (7-7-4, 25 points) and Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC (14-1-3, 45 points) in the 2016 Chinese Super League season is scheduled to take place at the Yuexiushan Stadium on Wednesday, July 20.

The match is the second meeting between the cross-city rivals this term with the first one happening last April 1 and the defending champions prevailing, 2-0, right at their home ground of Tianhe Stadium.

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Guangzhou R&F has improved since their last meeting, though, as the Blue Lions have acquired former Maccabi Tel Aviv captain Eran Zahavi late last month. Zahavi is on a tear for manager Dragan Stojković's squad so far, scoring three goals in his first three appearances for R&F.

Their last match was a 3-2 victory over Tianjin Teda also at the home stadium in Guangzhou, which was their third straight in the China top flight competitions, Sofa Score indicated.

Tianjin netted the opening goal at the seventh minute of the match courtesy of a Fredy Montero strike, but Zahavi led a stinging comeback as the Israeli national team skipper scored at the 12th and Renatinho buried a penalty kick at the 39th to lift Guangzhou to a 2-1 lead.

Senegalese forward Mbaye Diagne knotted the count once again during the first half injury time, but Zahavi scored the winner with one minute left before full time to give the Blue Lions a three-game winning run and another three points in the standings.

Meanwhile, Guangzhou Evergrande extended their winning streak to four games after a 2-1 win over bottom-dwellers Changchun Yatai at the Development Area Stadium on Sunday, Xinhuanet reported.

Uzbek defender Anzur Ismailov gave the hosts a one-point lead at the 29th minute as Changchun looked headed to a stunning upset. However, two late goals from Guangzhou winger Zheng Long saved the day for head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari's side as the league leaders are now on a remarkable 17-game unbeaten run, with their only loss of the term coming in their season-opener versus Chongqing Lifan.

Despite R&F's evident improvement, the Southern China Tigers are still favored to win this match by a landslide.

The predicted result is a 3-0 rout for Guangzhou Evergrande.

Guangzhou R&F starting lineup (5-3-2 formation): Cheng; Tang, Yu, Zhang, Jang, Jiang; Renatinho, Svensson, Wang; Xiao, Zahavi

Guangzhou Evergrande starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Zeng; Wang, Mei, Feng, Chen; Zheng, Paulinho; Huang, Goulart, Alan; Gao 

TagsChina Football, Chinese Super League, Chinese Super League 2016, Guangzhou R&F FC, Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC