Shanghai Port Have Performed Better Than Shanghai Shenhua in the Second Half of the Season, but Still Trail by One Place on the No-Penalty Points Table After Round 25

The 26th round of the Chinese Super League is about to begin today, and the new standings will start another round of changes. Today is also the final review of the no-penalty points table after Round 25. While studying this table, have people noticed that Shanghai Port have performed better than Shanghai Shenhua in the second half of the season? However, on the no-penalty points table, Shenhua have 38 points and Port have 37 points. Port are still one place behind Shenhua.

According to the official CSL standings after 25 rounds, Shanghai Port have 32 points and rank seventh, while Shanghai Shenhua have 28 points and rank ninth. The reason for this difference is that Shenhua have suffered too many points deductions this year, twice as many as Port. Port have been deducted 5 points, while Shenhua have been deducted 10 points. The situation may not remain the same after the next five matches.

The main reason is that Shenhua's Mineiro has been suspended for three matches, meaning Shenhua can only use four foreign players in the next five games. Chen Jinyi is also injured and will miss at least two matches. From the match against Dalian Yingbo, it can be seen that Shenhua's wing attack cannot do without Chen Jinyi's involvement. Without Chen Jinyi, Shenhua's wing play becomes ineffective. Shenhua are currently low in morale, having been eliminated from the FA Cup, and Milos Milojevic has led the team to three defeats in four matches. They are also competing in the AFC Champions League Two. Judging from the four matches, the new coaching staff, like Slutsky, are focused on winning every match and have not considered rotation strategies.

By comparison, Shanghai Port sacrificed results in the first half of this season to develop young players. Liu Zhurun, Li Xinxiang, Kuai Jiwen, Wumiti Jiang, and Yang Xi have all emerged. Three Port players were selected for the U23 Asian Games squad. More importantly, Port have now overcome injury problems. In their AFC Champions League matches, they have two AFC Champions League foreign players, allowing them to have the strength of seven foreign players plus one naturalized player. In league matches, they can field five healthy foreign players. Port's loaned foreign players this year can only be described as very useful when healthy. For example, in the FA Cup, Anpei Mu scored, and having Claude play as a center-back helped withstand the opponent's attack and kept Kresa and Zeca under control.

At the same time, the Chongming Five Tigers players Wu Lei and Yan Junling have gradually found their form. In the match against Qingdao Hainiu, Wu Lei scored twice, and in the match against Shenzhen Peng City, he also provided one assist.

Therefore, the author is very much looking forward to seeing whether Shanghai Port can overtake Shanghai Shenhua on the no-penalty points table after the completion of Round 26.