Preview: Ansan Greeners vs Gwangju FC

League leaders Gwangju travel to the Wa Stadium for a Sunday evening clash with Ansan Greeners. The south-west outfit have seen their lead at the summit dwindle with a series of four draws, leaving just five points ahead of second placed Gwangju. Ansan now sit in 4th, twelve points behind the leaders after back to back victories.

Last Time Out

Ansan put a halt to Seoul E-Land’s winning streak with a 3-1 win in Jamsil. Ansan’s trip to the Olympic got off to a fine start as Gustavo Vintecinco bagged his 8th of the season in the opening minutes. Fellow Brazilian Robson Carlos leveled things up midway through the first half to send both sides into the break at parity. However an early penalty, deftly converted by Jang Hyeok-jin restored Ansan’s lead, and substitute Kwak Seong-wuk sealed the points for the Green Wolves in the closing stages. It was a dominant performance by Ansan, and will give them all the confidence they need going into this clash.

Gwangju’s stuttering form continued with a goalless draw at home to bottom of the table Daejeon. It means that the league leaders have just 1 win in their past six games.

Previous Meetings

This is the third meeting between the two sides this season. Both of the previous clashes have been close, with a nin-nil draw at the Wa Stadium back in April, which saw Felipe red carded for a head butt. Gwangju claimed a 1-0 victory at home in July with a first-half strike from Yeo Bong-hun. Ansan had the better of these meeting last season with two wins and a draw, but manager Lim Wansup will still have the 4-0 collapse on the final day of last season in his mind.
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Team News

Whilst Gwangju are free of suspension problems, Choi Min-sung will be unavailable for Ansan whilst Vintecinco continues to walk a disciplinary tightrope after receiving his fifth yellow card last week, adding to two red cards from earlier in the season..

Who To Watch

Vintecinco has scored two in two, but watch out for Park Jinseop who has found his shooting boots recently with two goals in three, taking his season tally to five. Gwangju have the league’s top scorer in Felipe, who was sent off for violent conduct at the Wa Stadium earlier in the season. Expect him to make another significant impact on this game.

Prediction

Ansan know that they cannot blink at this stage of the season, having worked so hard to get into the play-off spots. Similarly, Gwangju are chasing automatic promotion back to the K1, and cannot afford another poor result. To that end, a draw looks most-likely. Gwangju are still the strongest side in the division, which should do something to stem the tide of Ansan optimism.

[Ansan] 1-1 [Gwangju]