Preview: Ansan Greeners vs Daejeon Hana Citizen

 

One win in five with two straight defeats, Daejeon Hana Citizen travel to the Wa~ Stadium to take on an Ansan Greeners team which has one its last two matches. The gap between the Purples and Jeju United at the top is now as much as 11 points, all-but confirming that automatic promotion is out of the question. The Greeners, meanwhile, are nine points off the playoffs but could mount a late push with a win over Daejeon.

Overview

via Soccerway

Last Time Out

Gyeongnam FC 1-2 Ansan Greeners

Ansan Greeners came from behind to pull off what was perhaps the upset of the round last weekend, defeating playoff hopefuls Gyeongnam FC by two-goals-to-one. Park Gi-dong put the Reds one-goal-to-the-good with just four minute on the clock before Choi Geon-joo levelled 15 minutes later. Brazilian attacking midfielder Canhoto sealed the points for Ansan with his first goal in K League on 38 minutes.

Highlights

Daejeon Hana Citizen 1-2 Seoul E-Land

Life under a second caretaker manager of the campaign, Cho Min-gook, began with defeat for Daejeon Hana Citizen. The Purples fell to their second loss on the bounce to all-but end any hopes of automatic promotion. After a goal-less first 45, and first 30 of the second period, it began to look as though the match was going to peter out to a bore draw. 

However, Leopards skipper Kim Min-gyun broke the deadlock on 76 minutes before Leandro added a second in the last minute of normal time. Lee Jung-moon pulled one back for Daejeon deep into injury time but it proved to be scant consolation for the Purples. 

Highlights

Previous Meetings

Daejeon Hana Citizen have taken on Ansan Greeners three times already this season, twice in the league and once in the FA Cup. The most recent was in mid-July when Citizen picked up the lion's share of the spoils with a 2-0 win. Yoon Seung-won and Bruno Baio adding late goals to seal a vital win. The score finished 2-0 when the two sides met at Purple Arena less than two weeks earlier thanks to goals from Kim Seung-seop and Andre Luis. The first encounter of 2020 was settled by an Andre Luis goal in the seventh minute during Round 4.

Overall, there have been 15 meetings between Ansan Greeners and Daejeon Hana Citizen. Daejeon have six wins to Ansan's four and five draws. At the Wa~ Stadium in this fixture, Daejeon have three wins and two draws from seven visits.

Team News

Winger Kim Tae-hyun and midfielder Lee Ji-hoon are both on four bookings for the campaign, one more would result in a one-match ban. Kim has featured in all 20 of Ansan's K League matches this term. Elsewhere, former Purple Kim Dae-yeol could feature having enjoyed a run of games in the Greeners' first XI, while Kim Ryun-do will be looking to score against Daejeon for the second season in a row. Brazilian attacking midfielder Canhoto bagged his first goal for the club in the 2-1 win over Gyeongnam last time out and is expected to keep his place.

[READ: K League 2 Round 21 Preview]

For Daejeon, centre back Lee Woong-hee is now back having made the bench for the Purples' last two matches, as is fellow former FC Seoul man Lee Kyu-ro who has now recovered from an arm injury. Goalkeeper Park Ju-won is also back in training but Kim Jin-young is likely to keep his place with on-loan Seongnam custodian Kim Keun-bae in reserve. But, young centre back Lee Ji-sol is expected to remain sidelined. Australian defensive midfielder Connor Chapman is suspended having picked up his fifth yellow of the campaign during the 2-1 defeat to Seoul E-Land last time out. Daejeon's injury woes don't appear to be letting up any time soon as striker Bruno Baio is a doubt after limping out of the E-Land reverse. Former Green Wolf Park Jin-seop is just a scribble in a referee's notepad from suffering the same fate.

The Adversary

Ansan Greeners finished fifth last term, narrowly missing out on the K League 2 playoffs. But with notable players leaving such as Park Jin-seop to Daejeon, as well as Gustavo Vintecinco among a whole host of others, the Green Wolves have struggled to reach the same heights in 2020. Led by fledgling gaffer Kim Gil-sik, Ansan sit second bottom but level on points with Line Four Derby rivals FC Anyang as well as a Bucheon FC 1995 side which has lost a club record seven on the spin.

With the gap between Ansan and the top at nine points, a push for the playoffs is improbable but by no means impossible. With back to back wins and three games unbeaten, the Greeners will fancy themselves this Sunday. A win against the Purples might just be enough to give the Greeners some momentum to mount a late push. 

Interestingly, Ansan are the lowest scorers in the league with just 13. Four out of the five Ansan wins this term have come by a single goal and they haven't scored any more than two in a single match this term. Kim Ryun-do and Choi Geon-joo are the Greeners' two top scorers having bagged three each.

 

Who To Watch

Yeon Je-min

Centre back Yeon Je-min returned to the side after a short injury layoff against Anyang and helped the Green Wolves on to a cleansheet and a 1-0 win. Yeon returned to his native Korea after a short stay in J.League with Kagoshima United before the start of the season and has featured nine times so far in 202. While in the team, Ansan have conceded just seven goals while keeping four cleansheets in the process. The former Busan and Suwon Bluewings man will be key to the Greeners picking up a result this Sunday.

Andre Luis

Winger Andre Luis donned the captain's armband last weekend, perhaps in a bid to motivate the Brazilian amid a late season slump. Andre began life at Purple Arena in rampant form, leading the goal-scoring charts and digging the Purples out with vital goals on a number of occasions. However, despite being the league's second leading goal scorer with 12, Andre has bagged just three goals since the end of July. 

Incredibly, Andre's goals have earned Daejeon 14 more points. If Citizen are to win promotion this season then they are going to need their star player to return to form. Although a winger by nature, Andre lacks any real pace and is more effective when deployed as a striker. With Bruno Baio an injury doubt, it stands to reason that his compatriot could be given the nod to lead the line.

Prediction

The pressure is beginning to mount for Daejeon and it has got to a time in the campaign where it is no or die. Injuries have hampered the Purples all season but there is still enough quality for them to pick up a win. That said, with two wins on the spin and with the relative freedom of having nothing to lose, Ansan, while being at home, will be the favourites. Narrow home win.