Beijing Guoan vs Guangzhou R and F Predictions

It’s been a fine campaign for Beijing Guoan, who’re currently six points clear at the top. It’s still relatively early days, though it already looks as though it is Guoan’s title to lose. In contrast, Guangzhou R&F find themselves nowhere near the top of the table. In fact, they’re closer to last place than first, as they currently sit 9^th. After three games without a win, the visitors will be hoping for some respite.

If it wasn’t for a single loss away from home, Beijing Guoan would have a perfect record. As it is, they’ve got to settle for having a near-perfect record on the road and a perfect record at home, as they’ve won each of their six games at Workers Stadium.

They’ve been tough to beat away from home, but in front of a home crowd, Gouan have been almost impossible to face this season. Not only have they won six out of six at this venue, but they’ve scored 16 goals and have conceded only four. Such numbers bode well ahead of a match against an R&F side that has floundered away from home.

While the league leaders have been in imperious form on their own patch, R&F have found life tough on their travels, as they’ve won just one out of seven. They’ve lost five of their other six on the road, conceding 19 goals and scoring just nine in reply. In truth, nine goals scored in seven away games is a reasonably respectable total, though such a total becomes irrelevant because Saturday’s visitors have been so poor at the back. No team in the division has conceded as many away goals as Guangzhou R&F, who’ve shipped an average 2.71 away from the comforts of home.

From a betting point of view, the hosts are hard to oppose, though backing them to simply come out on top represents little value. Instead, ‘Beijing Guoan to Win & Under 3.5 Goals’ catches the eye.

For all the visitors have leaked goals on their travels, they have started to slow things down in that respect slightly, their recent away match against Tianjin, where they shipped two goals and only 1.09 expected goals, being a good example. What’s more, the hosts have kept things a bit more low-key at home of late. Less than four goals have been scored in each of Guoan’s last three at Workers Stadium.

Offensively, the visitors aren’t likely to compete against the best defence in the league, though all things considered, they look to have a slightly greater chance of avoiding a real battering than the current odds suggest. Therefore, a small punt on the hosts winning without going overboard in terms of goals scored is merited.