Machida arrive in Shanghai with two wins from two in the ACL Two table and no goals conceded, while Shenhua have a win and a 0-0 draw in Cambodia behind them. What interests me is that the home side's recent games swing wildly (a 7-1 over Yunnan Yukun, then a 1-2 loss at Shenzhen), while Machida have been quietly low-scoring and tight. So I'd ask whether Shenhua's volatility meets a visitor who simply doesn't give much away.
Shenhua first. In our records they went 3-1 at Wuhan, drew 0-0 at Svay Rieng in Asia, thrashed Yunnan 7-1, then lost 1-2 away at Shenzhen five days ago. That draw at Svay Rieng is the one I'd weigh: it was a game where the goals did not come against a team they were expected to handle. Vladan Milojevic is still new in our data (one game seen), so it's hard to say how settled the shape is.
Machida's side. Their last five include a 1-0 win at Tampines, a 3-0 over Fukuoka, a 5-0 at Shimizu and a 0-0 at Vissel Kobe, with Go Kuroda's team clean in most of them. The Kobe draw came five days before this match, so the rest is similar to Shenhua's. Neither team has a confirmed absence in our list right now, though that may simply mean the list is empty, not that everyone is fit.
My question: if Shenhua need a goal early and don't get it, do they keep their structure the way they did in the Tampines win, or does it open up like the Shenzhen loss?
