Buriram United and Zhejiang Professional

Chang Arena is the venue as Buriram United and Zhejiang Professional go head-to-head in their opening 2023/24 AFC Champions League encounter.

Another continental campaign for Buriram United comes in the midst of the Thai side’s purple patch as they come into proceedings having won their last three matches by a combined score of 8-0, most recently humbling domestic rivals Trat 4-0 on home turf. Since going down 2-0 at home to Bangkok United in early August, the ‘Thunder Castle’ have gone four consecutive games without conceding, giving caretaker manager Arthur Papas much reason for optimism ahead of this Champions League Group H curtain-raising fixture. Barring the abovementioned loss to Bangkok, Papas’ men have won four of their last five competitive home outings, racking up 13 unanswered goals in that sequence. Interestingly, none of Buriram’s 13 home games in all competitions in 2023 have ended level (W11, L2).

On the other hand, Zhejiang Professional ousted Buriram’s fellow Thai adversaries Port MTI in the Champions League qualification playoffs, running out 1-0 winners back in August. That victory initiated a three-match winning streak in all competitions, bookended by a narrow 1-0 triumph at Chinese heavyweights Beijing Guoan last time out. It’s also worth noting that the win in the captial forms part of Zhejiang’s impressive streak of three away victories, with the prior two coming without a clean sheet. Interestingly, before that narrow scoreline in Beijing, Zhejiang’s ten previous away games in all competitions had seen over 2.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet, highlighting the potential for a high-scoring contest.