Pohang Steelers vs Sangju Sangmu Preview and Prediction

(photo courtesy of FC Pohang Steelers Facebook Page)

Let me begin with a short introduction about myself. I started playing football at a very young age. I loved playing. There isn't a position I would play that I wasn't good at, but goalie was always my favorite. I love stats. Throughout my previews you will see a lot of stats but, I am also an excellent reader of a team's momentum and motivation which you will also see. K-League has been a very fun league to watch, especially watching Pohang in the draw vs Jeonbuk with Shim Dong-woon scoring the equalizer in the 89th minute was awesome. Watching Pohang and their sudden surge to catch the leaders is inspiring to see and with that let me get into the preview.

With only 14 games left Pohang welcomes Sangju Sangmu to the Steelyard but the welcome will be short lived. In April, they were able to beat us 2-0 in the reverse fixture of the upcoming game, one of those goals was an unfortunate deflection in the 8 yard box. We come into this match after a tough beat down from table leaders Jeonbuk. After playing the last 2 matches away, playing at home will be a much needed comfort where Pohang has no losses in the last 4 games. At home we are below the average of conceded goals(1.25) with only conceding 10 goals in 9 home games. Our goals scored at home are above average for the league(1.26) scoring 16 in 9 games.

On the opposing side Sangju Sangmu comes in losing 3 of their last 5 away games, but overall in the last 5 games 4 wins and 1 loss with 2-1 on away games, this makes for a intriguing situation. Sangju Sangmu are scoring slightly above the league average on away games and conceding over 2 goals a game.

Now that I got the stats out of the way it's time for my thoughts on this game. After watching highlights and seeing other recaps of the game last week vs Jeonbuk it's clear we did have a lot of missed opportunities. Some being before Jeonbuk scored first, I feel if we could have capitalized early this game would've ended much different. That's why the next game is very important not only to the players but to the fans. We need to be able to bounce back strong and show why we are and will always be a top contender team in this league. We are currently only 2 points behind 4th place Seongnam, but with the tie-breaker keeping us back in 7th a win vs Sangju Sangmu and losses for the 3 teams ahead we could swing to 4th place after the final whistle on Sunday. One player who I think can have an impact on this game if given the start is Lulinha he is a new transfer with only one start and one sub-in since arriving, I've watched him over the years from when he was an up and comer to being what critics said overrated. He is not only a goal scorer but he creates goal opportunities, his movement off the ball and getting into position for opportunities are amazing. With his added help as well as some improvement defensively we should win this game vs a tough opponent.


My prediction 3-1