FA Cup Preview: Honam Univeristy vs Seoul E-Land

Seoul E-Land can finally say that their season is off to a start, after easing their way past FC Anyang 4-1 in the last round of the K League 2. Attention will now shift to knockout football as they travel down to Gwangju to face Honam University in the FA Cup. Seoul E-Land will look to continue their winning ways on Wednesday afternoon and will fancy their chances against the University side but there is always room for an upset. Can Seoul continue their run in the FA Cup, or will it be another embarrassing exit for a K League side in the competition?

Last Time Out

Seoul E-Land were looking to finally get a win in the 2019 K League 2 season when they welcomed FC Anyang to Cheonan for their second game in their new stadium. Seoul have had bad luck against Anyang in recent games, and a win was important for the Leopards.

FC Anyang managed to score first in the game, with Kim Sang-Won scoring in the 24th minute to put the visiting team ahead. It only took Seoul 14 minutes to respond, however, as a long ball to Seo Gyeong-Ju saw him go on a run and place the ball beautifully into the far corner.

The second half got underway and Seoul began to run riot in the game with a controversial second goal from Douglas Coutinho made the game 2-1. The referee pulled the goal back for offside, but after a VAR decision, decided to still grant the goal. Kim Min-Gyoon then gave Seoul their third goal of the game, to make it 3-1.

The final goal saw Douglas Coutinho get his brace and give the home side a 4-1 victory.

Final Score: Seoul E-Land 4-1 FC Anyang

Previous Meetings

These two teams have never played one another before making this the first encounter between them. Seoul E-Land have been knocked out before by a university side, however. They bowed out in the 3rd round last year, losing on penalties to Korea University.

Honam may take that knowledge and be led to think that Seoul may take their foot off the gas slightly due to the opposition, something that the university side may capitalize on as they will have nothing to lose in this tie.

Team News

Seoul will have an advantage on Wednesday as their next game will not be until Monday evening when they travel down to face Jeonnam Dragons. With this in mind, Seoul may well play first-team players in the game as they will have sufficient resting time between matches.

Kim Hyun-soo rested Brazilian Duarte on the weekend, indicating he may already have an eye on the cup game this week and could return him to the starting line up.

The boss may also think about having Kang Jung-mook between the sticks, as he has chose him as the 'keeper in the last round of the cup.

It will be interesting to see what new faces the boss will also introduce. He could use the game as a trial for many of the new players who came up from universities in the off season.

The Adversary

Honam University is situated in the city of Gwangju and have already had a lengthy cup run in 2019. Their game against Seoul E-Land will be their fourth after entering in the first round of the competition.

Their first game was a 2-0 win against Byeoksan Players. Their second game was a 1-1 draw with Pyeongtaek Citizen, a game that went all the way to penalties, which Honam came out on top.

Their last game in the competition was probably the most impressive, as they managed to scrape past Chuncheon 1-0 in the tie. Chuncheon are in the K League 3 Advanced and will give Honam hope that they could do one better when they welcome Seoul to Gwangju.

Prediction

Seoul E-Land have now started to hit a bit of decent form in the league, and have been playing a lot better football overall this year. Seoul will look to push forward with this game and get through to the next round of the competition. A win will draw more momentum for the side, and the possibility of facing Ulsan if they can also win their respective game.

Honam are not to be brushed over though. We have seen university teams in the past knock out K League sides as they have nothing to lose in the game and, knowing how Seoul can sometimes let games slip from their grasp, it will be interesting to see if Seoul can keep a level head in the game and win with ease.

Predicted Scoreline: Honam University 0-2 Seoul E-Land

FA Cup 4th Round Preview: here