Preview: Bucheon 1995 Vs Daejeon Citizen

Three games unbeaten and two wins on the spin has pushed Daejeon Citizen back into the race for the playoffs. This Monday night the Purples make the trip north to take on Bucheon 1995, a side which, despite losing their way a touch of late, still harbour hopes of finishing in the top four themselves. Can Ko Jongsoo's team make it three wins in a row by defeating Bucheon in their own back yard for the second time this season or can 1995 put an end to their run of four games without victory? 
(image via K League)

Overview

from Soccerway

Last Time Out

Suwon FC 2-0 Bucheon 1995

Bucheon 1995's poor run of form continued last Monday night when Jung Gabsuk's men suffered a 2-0 defeat to Suwon FC. One of Suwon's latest acquisitions, Fernando Vianna, netted his second goal since joining the club, finding the far corner with a glancing header, getting on the end of a peach of a Lee Seunghyun cross in the 53rd minute. Then, in the 80th minute, Baek Sungdong made it two with a long-range daisy cutter to condemn Bucheon to their sixth defeat in eight and render the west Gyeonggi side three points off the playoffs in fifth place. It was somewhat of a disaster of a night for Bucheon who lost star striker Willian Popp with an injury, the former Busan IPark hitman was forced off in the second minute with a quad injury. Then, to add insult to injury, Bucheon had two defenders sent off. Both Lim Donghyeok and Jang Soonhyeok were shown straight red cards on 38 and 88 minutes respectively.

Highlights: here

Seoul E-Land 0-2 Daejeon Citizen

Daejeon Citizen picked up a huge win away to Seoul E-Land on Wednesday in what was the re-arranged fixture from round 10. The Purples took the lead through the club's top scorer, Shohruh Gadoev, who fired the ball into Kim Youngkwang's bottom right-hand corner. The Uzbek international latched on to a sharp through-ball from Shin Hakyoung just after half time. Citizen sealed the points in time added on when Park Inhyeok played in Aurelian Chițu who managed to guide the ball over the advancing goalkeeper to net his second goal in a week.

Highlights: here

Previous Meetings

It wasn't that long ago since Daejeon last visited Bucheon Civic Stadium. For what was the last game before the World Cup break, a Park Inhyeok brace gave Citizen an unexpected away win. However, the four previous fixtures resulted in Bucheon victories, the most recent of which was on the opening day of the season when an 85th minute Gong Minhyeon strike gave Bucheon the win at Purple Arena. Willian Popp put the visitors in front inside 13 minutes before centre back Yun Junseong levelled for the hosts 10 minutes before the interval. Daejeon looked as though they had done enough to earn themselves a respectable draw but Gong Minhyeon had other ideas. Bucheon's number nine popped up with just five minutes of normal time remaining to get the Jung Gabsuk's men off to a winning start.

Daejeon have only won twice away to Bucheon, the first was actually the very first team these two sides met back in April 2014 during the Purples' K League Challenge title winning season. Adriano put Citizen in front on 16 minutes only for Rodrigo Paraná to peg the visitors back just three minutes later. However, in the 90th minute, Rim Changwoo bagged a late winner to see Cho Jinho's men head back to Chungcheong with all three points.

In total Bucheon 1995 and Daejeon Citizen have come up against each other on 14 occasions with Bucheon boasting of the better record having won six compared to Daejeon's five.

Team News

Bucheon 1995 are likely to be without their leading marksman, Willian Popp, after the Brazilian centre forward was forced off in the second minute of the 2-0 defeat to Suwon. Popp pulled up after trying to pick up a through-ball, appearing to have strained his quadriceps in the process. Monday's hosts will also be without defensive duo Lim Donghyuk and Jang Soonhyuk after both were given their marching orders during the 2-0 defeat to Suwon.

Daejeon Citizen will also be without one of their top strikers with Aurelian Chițu set to serve a one-match suspension. The Romanian, who joined the Purples in the winter, picked up his third yellow of the campaign during the 2-0 away win over Seoul E-Land. Park Inhyeok or Sanzhar Tursanov are the two main candidates who are likely to be chosen to fill in.

The Adversary

Perennial playoff challengers Bucheon 1995 began the season rather well, winning their first five games on the spin. But, a run of just one win in eight has seen them drop to fifth in the table and just one point above Daejeon Citizen. Part of the problem could be the fact that Bucheon have completed the fewest passes in the division, just 532 compared to Daejeon's 1,115 and league leaders, Seongnam's, 1,381. Basement side Ansan Greeners have completed 1,276 for comparison. In front of goal Bucheon are actually second with 304 shots, 146 of which were on target, only Busan have more with 305 and 154 on target.

The biggest problems for Bucheon are at the back; the Reds have the third worst defence in the division having shipped 31 goals and are the only team in the top half on negative goal difference. It doesn't end there, either; Bucheon have made the least amount of tackles (19) in the league and only Suwon FC have made fewer interceptions (28 compared to 20). Bucheon have also made the third-least number of clearances (64) and the least number of challenges both on the ground (106) and in the air (53).

Formation wise, Bucheon predominantly set themselves up in a 4-2-1-3/4-2-3-1 formation with Nilson Jr. as one of the two holding midfielders and two outside forward playing either side of the main striker in Popp or Gong Minhyeon. Cristovam, who had a spell with Suwon Bluewings at the start of the campaign, has been deployed on the right side of the front three.

Bucheon 1995 Starting XI vs Suwon FC R22

Who To Watch

Gong Minhyeong

Gong Minhyeong (R) in action against Suwon FC (Image via Bucheon 1995 Facebook)

Striker Gong Minhyeong is Bucheon 1995's second-top scorer this season with four goals from 14 starts. The 28 year-old scored the winner against Daejeon in the first meeting between these two sides this season. Gong has been with Bucheon since 2013 and has been a first team regular every since, the two seasons spent with Ansan and then later Asan Mugunghwa in 2016 and 2017 aside. During his first season on military service Gong enjoyed his best form in front of goal, scoring eight times in 29 starts.

This term, Gong is already have way to reaching that tally. From the 15 appearances made in 2018, Gong Minhyeong has had 32 attempts on goal, 21 of which have been on target, an accuracy percentage of 65. For comparison, Popp has had 74 attempts on goal with 33 on target, a percentage of 44.

Prediction

Daejeon will be brimming with confidence when they take to the field on Monday night. The Purples are unbeaten in three and have won two on the spin whereas Bucheon's dismal run of form has seen them slip out of the top four. Key players such as Popp and Lim Donghyeok will be unavailable and so Jung Gabsuk's team may feel as though they're already on the back foot. An away win.

Bucheon 1995 0-1 Daejeon Citizen