Preview: Goyang Zaicro vs Busan IPark

Busan stays on the road for the second week in a row as they head to the northwest to face the newly re-branded Goyang Zaicro FC. Both teams will be looking for a result. Busan wants to build on last week's win over Gangwon, while Goyang are still looking for their first victory of the season. It's only been two games, but goals will likely be in short supply as Busan has scored just twice and Goyang once. Nevertheless, by one goal or five, a win's a win.

Graphic courtesy of BusanIPark.com

Busan IPark

Choi Young-joon shuffled his pack last week as he searched for his best side. It will be curious to see whether he changes his XI again or sticks with the group that brought the team their first Challenge win.

Goalkeeper: Lee Chang-geun or Goo Sang-min? Lee Chang-geun let in 3 in a shaky showing against Ansan, while Goo Sang-min kept a clean sheet. It should be said though that Gangwon offered little in attack, and it's certainly possible that Lee Chang-geun could also have recorded a clean sheet. Objectively though, Choi should reward Goo for his clean sheet, but one suspects he may give Lee Chang-geun, a player the club was desperate to hold onto during the offseason, another shot so as not to damage his confidence.

Defenders: Lee Won-young, Samuel, Cha Young-hwan, and Kim Dae-ho seem to be the preferred defenders. It remains to be seen if U23 defender Goo Hyun-joon has a part in Choi's plans (likely as a left wingback in a 3-5-2).

Midfielders: Lee Gyu-seong and Lee Chung-woong seem preferred, and with his goal last week, Lee Yeong-jae will probably secure the third spot. Daigo and Kim Jin-kyu will likely need to battle it out for rotation games here and there.

Forwards: Ko Kyung-min seems to have grabbed one spot with the other still very much up for grabs. Choi seems to like Hong Dong-hyun, and Popp got a start last week. Strangely we have yet to see Stojanovic, a K League (both Classic and Challenge) veteran, on the pitch. Choi Seung-in started last week and didn't impress.

Best Guess XI

Goyang Zaicro

Unless you closely follow the K League Challenge or U League, most probably won't know about Goyang's team. In fact, their most famous player is Nam Ha-neul. Nam is not famous for anything he's done with Goyang, he's made one substitute appearance for the club, but rather for being the first player selected from TV's "Chungchun FC Hungry XI" program.

I haven't watched Goyang this season, but it would seem they are a typical defend-first Korean team. They have conceded just one goal thus far (in last week's 0-1 loss to Ansan), and have yet to score (first game was 0-0 draw with Anyang). Goyang appears to have joined the 3-5-2 parade, and I would expect them to drop into a 5-4-1 shape often when defending. Busan will need to be patient in attack and mindful of the counter.

Match Thoughts

A draw seems likely. Neither team is free scoring, and we could see a rather drab 3-5-2 vs 3-5-2 match up. Set pieces and defensive errors could be the deciding factor here.

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