Preview: Ansan Greeners vs. Suwon FC

Ansan Greeners host city rival Suwon FC on Saturday, with both teams in need of three points to keep up with the play-off rush.
(image: K League)

Last Time Out

Ansan grabbed an injury time equaliser away at Busan IPark courtesy of Raul from the spot. It was an impressive point for Ansan who had gone behind with less than fifteen minutes to go, also to a penalty. Ansan sit fourth in the table, three places above Suwon who ended a run of three straight defeats courtesy of an Alex goal at bottom club Anyang.

Previous Meetings

This is the first match of the season in a fixture which brought Ansan much joy in 2017, with two draws and two wins. Low scoring Ansan scored nine times in the four meetings last season including a massive 4-0 away victory at Suwon back in August last year. Neutrals will be hoping for a repeat of last season's 3-3 ding dong battle at the Wa Stadium which saw the lead swing back and forth on a wild day one year ago.

Team News

Raul scored five times against Suwon last season so his marginalisation recently will be interesting in terms of who starts the game. Raul has scored four in his last two outings for Ansan, but with Suwon being vulnerable at the back, will the Uruguyan have another chance to be part of the front three in Lee Heungsil's preferred 3-4-3 formation? Play maker Jang Hyeokjin will also be a concern for Ansan fans after he was came off just minutes into the first half in Busan.

Suwon fans might be looking out for Jeong Kiwoong who struck four times during Suwon's 2015 promotion season. He joined the Greeners pre-season and the Ansan born player promised to score against Suwon if he got the chance.  He has yet to make an appearance for the Greeners however.

Suwon will be looking for more from Brazilian Matheus Alves who has netted just once this season. The former Gangwon striker returned to Korea this season from Malaysia.

Prediction

Suwon  have scored just three goals in their five outings so far this season, and with Ansan keeper Lee Heeseong in fine form this season, that number will be hard to increase at the Wa. Ansan themselves are hardly free=scoring but you get the feeling that this very attacking set-up will eventually click, and this is a great chance to do it, especially with Raul scoring freely again.


Predicted Score: Ansan Greeners 2 - 0 Suwon FC


Trivia: This is the only fixture in the current K League system that has been competed in by all three Ansan franchises, making Suwon Ansan's most historic opponent. The teams first played each other in the 2007 National League and have done so every season barring 2013 and 2016.

You can also read our interview with Ansan forward Seku Conneh here.