National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Eastern or Guangzhou R&F U19 that keep their silverware dream alive.
There has not been much time to rest for the guests, as they played a Premier League game only three days ago. That game was also an away game, at Happy Valley. It will be interesting to see if they are fully ready and rested for this match, and/or if some changes in the lineup is necessary.
Eastern form and stats
Last season, Eastern's FA Cup journey ended in the 1st round.Eastern have played 4 Premier League games at their own stadium so far this season, resulting in 2-1-1 (wins-draws-losses). On the other hand, in the FA Cup, Eastern has performed like this (both home and away): 3 wins, 0 draws and 0 losses. Eastern has recorded two wins in a row here at Hong Kong Stadium, increasing their hopes of victory in this match.
Eastern enjoyed a nice away win last time out, playing at Southern District's place. The match ended 1-0 with Lucas scoring. Ahead of that match, Eastern won a home game hosting Kitchee (2-1).
This is expected to be a close game, with Eastern perhaps considered small favourites due to their home advantage. Looking back at earlier matches similar to this one (expected to be close with Eastern as a small favourite), we find two games. Eastern has won one of these, drawn zero and lost one.
The Eastern fans have had their share of opportunities to cheer home goals this season, having seen 7 goals in 4 league matches. With more than 1,5 conceded goals on average, the Eastern defense is not exactly impregnable. 6 goals conceded from 4 games. You can find more goal stats on the Statistics tab above.
Guangzhou R&F U19 form and stats
Guangzhou R&F U19 was sent out of FA Cup in the quarter-finals last season.Playing away, Guangzhou R&F U19 have won 4 games, drawn 1 and suffered 0 defeats in the Premier League this season. The away team travel with confidence. Not since the Wofoo Tai Po game have they lost an away game, meaning Guangzhou R&F U19 has taken points from eleven away matches in a row.
A 2-2 draw was the result before that, hosting Southern District in the Premier League.
A crazy, crazy match with lots of goals last time out for Guangzhou, as mentioned above. 7 goals in that one, will this match be as much fun? It's hard not to mention S. Deblé's lethal finishing against Happy Valley. three goals were a big reason for the important victory.
So, this is expected to be a close game, an even contest. Looking at earlier matches with Guangzhou R&F U19 playing away and similar expectations, we found four relevant matches. Results were zero Guangzhou R&F U19 wins, two draws and two defeats.
The visitors are returning home after this fixture, hosting Kitchee in just three days.
The prediction for this game is lots of goals as Guangzhou R&F U19 alone have scored more than three on average in their league games away (20 from 5 played). 7 goals have been conceded by Guangzhou in these games.
Head 2 Head
Eastern-Guangzhou R&F U19 H2H statistics last seven meetings regardless of arena: Eastern six wins, Guangzhou R&F U19 zero wins, one draw. six of these seven matches had three or more goals (over 2,5).Top Goalscorers
  G. Alves da Silva 11 goals |  E. Camargo 10 goals |
Eastern missing players
Guangzhou R&F U19 missing players
| Eastern | Guangzhou R&F U19 | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 8 | Played | P | 13 | 25 | ||
| 13 | 4 | Won | W | 8 | 15 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Drew | D | 4 | 6 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Lost | L | 1 | 4 | ||
| 52 | 15 | Scored | S | 37 | 76 | ||
| 30 | 10 | Conceded | C | 17 | 30 | ||
| 92% | 88% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 85% | 92% | ||
| 76% | 75% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 69% | 84% | ||
| 64% | 62% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 69% | 76% | ||
| 40% | 38% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 69% | 68% | ||
| 24% | 38% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 54% | 48% | ||
| 56% | 50% | BTTS | BTTS | 69% | 56% | ||
| 36% | 38% | Clean Sheets | C S | 23% | 36% | ||
| 16% | 25% | Failed to Score | F T | 23% | 16% | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2.2 | 2 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.8 | 2 | ||
| 1 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 2 | ||
| 313 | 124 | Total Shots | T S | 181 | 312 | ||
| 134 | 53 | Shots on Target | S O | 81 | 139 | ||
| 29% | 28% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 46% | 46% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Guangzhou R&F U19 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 42 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 7 | 28 | 26 |
| 2 | Kitchee | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 26 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 14 | 22 |
| 3 | Eastern | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 22 |
| 4 | Warriors | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 22 |
| 5 | Southern District | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 22 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 19 |
| 6 | Wofoo Tai Po | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 11 | -6 | 9 |
| 7 | Pegasus | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | -7 | 6 |
| 8 | Happy Valley | 11 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 26 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 9 | -16 | 6 |
| 9 | Yuen Long | 9 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 14 | -12 | 5 |
| 10 | Rangers | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 17 | -15 | 5 |