FA Cup Preview: Daejeon Korail vs Seoul E-Land

Seoul E-Land finally managed to solve the conundrum of losing weekly, salvaging a point in a scrappy and valiant showing against Daejeon Citizen last weekend. Focus now shifts to FA Cup duties as they now are matched with another Daejeon-based outfit. National League side Daejeon Korail are their opponents and they will host the round of 16 fixture this Wednesday evening. Will Seoul E-Land march on in the FA Cup or will Daejeon send the Leopards on the KTX back to Seoul with their tail between their legs?

Overview

Via Soccerway

Last Time Out

Saturday brought more false belief for the Leopards’ faithful, as a dwindling Daejeon Citizen side rolled into town. The man in charge, Kim Hyun-soo smelt blood after Daejeon’s 5-0 hammering by Busan last week. The gaffer set up with three at the back and had all three Brazilians up top.

It was the troubled away side, however, who silenced the crowd. In the 15th minute, a Seoul E-Land high defensive line was penetrated by Daejeon. Chitu, one on one with Glory, made light work of Seoul’s shoddy defense.

Seoul continued to press in the game. They were the side in control and it was only errors in finishing which lead them not to score. They kept pressing and kept knocking on Daejeon's door going into the break.

The second half brought more chances from both sides but it started to look like a smash and grab from Daejeon. Fortune did shine on Seoul however and, as the ball bounced around the box in the 83rd minute, Douglas Coutinho slotted the ball home and equalized for the capital club.

Seoul looked like they escaped with a point. Then disaster struck for them in injury time, when Kim Dong-cheol forgot that he was in defense and not between the sticks. It was a fantastic fingertip save from the defender, the only problem was, he wasn’t in goal.

Another pointless game loomed for Seoul, then up stepped Tursunov. With one of the final kicks of the game, he bounced the ball against the post in what could be more described as a pass on goal, than a shot. Seoul were saved.

Full Time: Seoul E-Land 1-1 Daejeon Citizen


Daejeon will go into this game on Wednesday mirroring Seoul’s score line from the weekend. On Saturday, they played at home against Gimhae FC in the National league. Perhaps with one eye on this mouth-watering fixture against the Leopards, Daejeon mustered only a draw and currently sit sixth in the league.

Full Time: Daejeon Korail 1-1 Gimhae FC

Previous Meetings

The two sides have never previously met in any competition. Seoul may feel like its groundhog day, as they will have played two Daejeon sides in five days by Wednesday evening.

In the future, if the league pyramid opens up, they may meet again in league competition, but for this moment, they have to enjoy the idea of playing, fresh, new opponents.

Team News

Seoul, as mentioned earlier, went with the big three foreign signings in the line up on the weekend. They went to attack Daejeon and what they did, they did quite adequately. Duarte was substituted at halftime surprisingly. He is a good playmaker and was making the right passes in the first half.

Maybe the boss is saving him for this tie, as they will need a leader on the field to calm the nerves on Wednesday.

Seoul’s issue is still within the defense. With only one clean sheet all season for the side, E-Land may need to invest in some more netting for their goal as the current ones are wearing thin.

The Seoul E-Land team, in a 3-4-3 formation, as they took on Daejeon Citizen in round 11 of the 2019 K League 2 (Photo Credit: www.facebook.com/seouleland )

Seoul will be happy to play a few of their younger players in this fixture, but they still need to respect their opponents. Having a figure such as Masuda in the middle of the park may be good to control the tempo of the game because, as we saw in the last round, that Daejoen enjoy running against teams.

3-4-3 did not work defensively for Seoul on Saturday, but it was more positive in going forward. It will be interesting if Kim Hyun-soo sticks with this formation or if he resorts back to his favored 4-2-3-1.

The Adversary

Daejeon Korail were the talk of the last round, as they convincingly knocked out current K League 1 leaders, Ulsan Hyundai. Not only did they win 2-0 against Ulsan, they did so convincingly and with style. The first goal came courtesy of an excellent freekick from Lee Gwan-pyo. The second goal came shortly after from Kim Jin-su.

Daejeon currently sits in sixth in the National League, however, and have yet to win a game since that exceptional evening. With no wins in six games, are Daejeon waiting for this tie against Seoul? Or have the wheels fallen off after such an impressive feat?

Seoul E-Land will have to deal with former player Kim Tae-eun. Fans will hope he doesn’t come back to haunt the Leopards in their quest for glory.

Prediction

This could be the year we see Seoul E-Land, rise from the ashes and become men in the footballing world in Korea. To do so, they need a big showing in the cup. If they do, they would be on the cusps of greatness, and into the quarterfinals of the FA Cup.

Daejeon, however, may well be poised and ready for the bigger side to come to town and will look to take another K League scalp in the competition. Expect goals and expect a fight from both teams.

Predicted Score: Daejeon Korail 1-3 Seoul E-Land