On July 17, in the 5th round of the FA Cup, China League One team Wuxi Wu Hook faces off against Chinese Super League team Beijing Guoan at home. Wuxi Wu Hook pulled off a surprise victory in the previous round, but their relegation situation in the League One is extremely dire, and their desire to fight isn’t too strong; Beijing Guoan hopes to progress further when facing an opponent weaker than themselves.
In the previous two rounds of the FA Cup, Wuxi Wu Hook consecutively eliminated China League Two team Guangzhou Leopard from Guangdong and Chinese Super League team Meizhou Hakka with 1-0 scores. Moreover, since eliminating Meizhou Hakka in the FA Cup, Wuxi Wu Hook’s performance in the League One has improved significantly, remaining unbeaten for three consecutive rounds, achieving one win and two draws, seeing hope for avoiding relegation.
Beijing Guoan eliminated League One team Suzhou Dongwu away in the previous round, but upon returning to the Chinese Super League, Beijing Guoan recently suffered consecutive losses, losing to Wuhan Three Towns and Shanghai Port. However, after the loss to Shanghai Port away, Guoan didn’t return to Beijing but stayed in Shanghai, sparing them the hardship of traveling for this away FA Cup match.
In Wuxi Wu Hook’s last two home games, they eliminated Meizhou Hakka 1-0 in the FA Cup and drew 2-2 against bottom-placed Jiangxi Lushan in the League One relegation battle. Meanwhile, Beijing Guoan lost one and drew one in their last four away Chinese Super League matches, failing to secure a win, with their only victory during this period being the 4-0 elimination of Suzhou Dongwu in the FA Cup.
Wuxi Wu Hook introduced a large number of new signings during the summer window, including foreign player Joel Jonathan, as well as domestic players Gui Hong, Zhao Shuhao, Zhu Haiwei, etc. Beijing Guoan had virtually no new signings during the summer window, except for goalkeeper Zheng Tuluo and Fan Shuangjie promoted from the youth team; these two additions provided almost no help in boosting the team’s strength.
In last year’s third round of the FA Cup, Wuxi Wu Hook failed to advance to the round of 16 against Tianjin Jinmen Tiger, while Beijing Guoan defeated Qingdao West Coast 4-1 in the fourth round last year, advancing to the quarter-finals and shaking off the shadow of being eliminated by an amateur team the previous year.
Wuxi Wu Hook currently ranks second-to-last in the League One, with a six-point gap from the team in the third-to-last position, and their relegation situation remains extremely severe; thus, their pursuit of the FA Cup isn’t particularly strong. In contrast, Beijing Guoan has a strong emotional attachment to the FA Cup and hopes to progress further against lower league teams weaker than themselves, aiming for consecutive entry into the quarter-finals for the second year.
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