Preview: Daegu FC vs Pohang Steelers

After the long international break, K League returns to us this weekend. Promoted side Daegu FC are set to host Pohang Steelers this Saturday night, a side ranked 7th in the K League Classic table. Both teams need three points to bounce back from their disappointing results in recent matches; Daegu will be hoping to move further away from the relegation zone whilst Steelers will want to get back into the top six.

(Photo Credit: Daegu FC Facebook)

Overview

Graphics from Soccerway.com

Last Time Out

Daegu FC took on Sangju at Daegu and nearly got 3 points just right before the stoppage time. The hosts were leading 2-0 and the victory was within their grasps. Unfortunately, one mistake by former international Hwang Jae-won, who had replaced Captain Han Hee-hoon, in the defence let Joo Min-kyu find the net. To make it worse, the referee later pointed at the spot due to a handball. The taker Lim Chae-min converted from the spot in the end. For the hosts, they should have beaten Sangju so that they could take a few steps away from them, who are ranked 11th with 25 points.

Meanwhile, Pohang travelled to Incheon and tasted bitter defeat by two goals to nil. It was still a surprising result even though Incheon have had pretty good results previously when they have hosted Pohang at home. With this victory, Incheon seemed to bounce back quite well, while Pohang seemed to be in trouble. The Steelers have not won for three games in a row, which made the squad appear daunted.

 

Previous Meetings

Graphics from Soccerway.com

In the middle of July, Daegu hosted Pohang and snatched an unexpected victory over the visitors. It can be described in a single word; “perfection” for the city, “disaster” for the Steelers. To be honest, it was unexpectedly one of the greatest wins Daegu have ever had. An early goal from Cesinha gave the home team a pleasant lead. The visitors struggled to break the defensive line, using the big tower, Yang Dong-hyun and local boy, Kim Seung-dae. Out of the blue, Kim Jin-hyuk put home fans in a jolly mood by shooting an amazing projectile like he exactly did against Gangwon. In the 2nd half, the game went much easier than Daegu anticipated as Pohang's Muralha was sent off due to double yellow cards. Finally, Evandro knocked out the visitors, making it 3-0 and completely took their desire to play away.

Team News

Daegu FC set up a base camp in Changnyeong for training and reportedly tried their best to make their team solid. There were a few new faces in the summer window market who needed to mingle with others. The starting list wasn’t unveiled to supporters as it was requested by staff, but Daegu had a friendly match against Joongone University and beat them 4-2 with 2 goals from Cesinha, plus goals from Evandro and Kim Kyung-joon.

The Adversary

Pohang stayed at the clubhouse and had several friendly matches against some university teams and a K3 side. It seemed that their strategy was to maximize their attacking, judging by the number of goals they scored. Before the break, Pohang seemed not to be sharp or effective at the top even though Yang dong-hyun had been on fire. Unfortunately, the homecoming boy, Kim Seung-dae will be missing more games as their appeal to FA about his 7 games suspension and 5 million Won fine was denied. Therefore, they have to make plans without him, which is a pity for the Steelers.

Prediction

Daegu 1-1 Pohang