Jeonnam Dragons v Daejeon Hana Citizen: match preview

Jeonnam Dragons host Daejeon Hana Citizen this Sunday in the K League 2. Both sides successfully saw off their lower league opposition in the FA Cup last weekend and will be looking at this fixture as winnable. Joshua Higgins preview this match.

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Jeonnam: DWDDW

Daejeon: WLLWW

Both sides have earned six points in the K League 2 table after four games, but due to Daejeon scoring more goals, five to Jeonnam's three, the Citizens currently occupy 3rd place while the Dragons sit in 5th. 

Both teams put out much changed first elevens and cruised through to the next round of the FA Cup, with Jeonnam running out 11-0 winners over Cheongsol FC, and Daejeon winning away from home against Paju Citizens 4-1, so the K League 2 teams should be relatively well rested for this Sunday's clash. 

[READ: K League 2 Round 5 Preview]

Jeonnam Dragons

Last week the Dragons filled their foreign quota by bringing in Brazilian striker Balotelli who boasts some K League experience with Busan IPark, although he only made four appearances, scoring two goals. His signing sees the Dragons with a much different attacking line up from last season, where goals were hard to come by. The previous league game's tactical decision to drop Lee Jong-ho into a deeper. more supportive role makes much more sense with the addition of Balotelli, and this weekend might see the new signing line up alongside Samuel and fellow Brazilian, Alex, however manager Jeon Kyung-jun does tend to be cautious, especially in the bigger games, so a late substitution if the Dragons are chasing the game seems much more likely than the trio starting the game together. Dragons fans were starved of excitement last year with signings that either failed to impress, such as striker Kristoffersen, or (due to injury) didn't make an appearance all season, Rodolfo. They will be hoping for better luck and plenty of goals this year.

Daejeon Hana Citizen

The citizens have had a mixed start to the 2021 season, narrowly winning twice over Bucheon 1995  and Anyang 2-1, and 1-0 respectively, and losing to Busan IPark and Gimcheon Sangmu 2-1 in each game. Brazilian Edinho looks to have continued his fine form from last season, scoring twice already in four games. Along with Edinho, Daejeon have added fellow countryman Pato to their ranks, who has only made two brief appearances so far, but is certainly due to feature more soon, and might play a bigger part this Sunday. Goalkeeper Kim Dong-jun has missed the last two games for Daejeon and long time servant Park Ju-won is likely to keep his place this weekend. Alibaev is still recovering from his hernia operation and unlikely to be included in the squad.

Why watch this game?

In K League 2 Jeonnam and Daejeon, for many, represent the middle of the pack, and with teams such as Seoul Eland and Ansan Greeners improving massively in recent years, and strong teams such as Busan and Gimcheon being relegated, there are fewer and fewer games that they can truly expect to win. Even though this is only the fifth game of the season, with the level of opposition in the competition, both sides need all three points to prevent themselves falling behind too early. Daejeon might go into this game with some confidence though, as they had the best record against the Dragons last season out of all teams, two wins and one draw, and were the last team to inflict a loss on the south Jeolla team in all competitions.