5 reasons to watch Guangzhou Evergrande vs Shanghai SIPG
Posted on 31-03-2025 written by Shay Giles
Guangzhou Evergrande v Shanghai SIPG: 5 reasons to watch
Shanghai SIPG travel to face Guangzhuo Evergrande at the Tianhe stadium in an early top of the table clash. Evergrande want to win a seventh successive title while Shanghai’s manager Andre Villas Boas has promised them a trophy this season. Could that trophy be the Chinese Super League?
If you are new to the up and coming Chinese Super league then this is the match for you.
Read up on both teams in our preview
The Players
Brazilian internationals Oscar and Hulk play for Shanghai SIPG along with fellow compatriot Elkeson. Uzbek international Odil Akhmedov and the Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvahlo who is best known for his stints at Chelsea and Real Madrid also ply their trade for the Shanghai based side.
While Guangzhou Evergrande posses Brazillians Ricardo Goulart, Alan and Paulinho with the latter scoring a hat-trick in the recent World Cup qualifier against Uruguay. With all the Brazillian flair in the retrospective squads you should expect a swashbuckling, intense and fiery game.
It is not all about the foreign contingent though with Evergrande and SIPG containing a lot of quality domestic based players; SIPG squad contains goalkeeper Yan Junling, defender Shi Ke and attacker Wu lei while Evergande have veteran attacker Gao Lin, Zhang Linpeng who has great defensive abilities and up and coming midfielder Zhang Aokai.
Read now: the 11 best local players in the Chinese Super League
The managers
With two well renowned mangers at the clubs, passions and emotions are expected to run high on the side-line; Evergrande are under the guidance of Luiz Felipe Scolari and Andre Villas Boas is at Shanghai SIPG. Both mangers are used to high pressure situations with Scolari taking charge of Brazil as the home nation at the 2014 World Cup, while AVB has managed one of the biggest club in England, Chelsea.
Shanghai’s promise
Shanghai SIPG are widely tipped to challenge the mighty Guangzhou Evergrande and break their streak of winning the league this year. With their new signings their squad looks more balanced and contains greater depth within the sqaud. AVB has them playing with flair and precision up front but still managing to keep them well organised at the back with SIPG only conceding one goal in the league this season, this was against Changchun Yatai.
Evergrande’s unbeaten streak
With Shanghai SIPG wanting to end the dominance of the Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande, they will also need to end the streak of never beating Evergrande in the league. SIPG was only founded in 2005 and having only been in the top flight for what is now their fifth season they have never fully established themselves as threat to Evergrande. With both of these factors coming in to play there will be an add of extra tension in the match for SIPG to come away with an important win in a passionate Tianhe stadium.
Its on Sky Sports
The game is easy and accessible to watch for U.K viewers, with the game kicking off at 12:35 pm, which is a good time slot as the match kicks off before most of the other European matches. You could watch this important game with your family and lunch, a perfect way to spend the early parts of your afternoon.
Make sure to share this article and join the discussion at @followfcinsider