Will Gangwon turn improvement into results against Suwon?

After six games without a win, Gangwon will be hoping that they can turn their hardships around when they go up against Suwon FC. Their opposition come into this fixture in good form, though, having won back-to-back matches for the first time this campaign.

Recent Form

Gangwon are slowly beginning to return to some sort of consistency, with positive signs in the last two games complemented by draws against top-half sides. They have now gone six attempts without a win, however, and will need to believe that they can use their improved performances as a catalyst to pick up a near-essential victory on Saturday. It'd allow the Bears to leapfrog their opponents, and see them still capable of harbouring an outside chance of sneaking into the top-half as the season progresses.

On the other hand, Suwon will be seeking a third consecutive league triumph, following an impressive away victory against Jeju last weekend, and a late comeback win at home to rock-bottom Gwangju on Tuesday. Now sitting in seventh place, Kim Do-kyun will hope that an inconsistent, unreliable Gangwon are the perfect opponents to help propel his men towards the upper-echelons of the table.

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Team News

Gangwon go into Saturday's game with a fresh amount of injury worries, undoing the good of having a host of players returning last time out. Han Kook-young looks likely to miss proceedings after being stretchered off in the second-half on Wednesday, Lee Bum-soo's fitness is unknown after pulling up on his return, whilst Kim Dae-won may find himself dropped to the bench after being forced to complete the game against Ulsan. Cho Jae-wan, Ko Moo-yeol and Lim Chai-min all remain out injured indefinitely, but Kim Young-bin will return having served his suspension.

Suwon come into the contest with opposite fortunes, having a generally clean bill of health throughout their squad. Given their recent form a large amount of tinkering is unlikely, so a similar line-up to that which faced Gwangju is probably a safe bet.

Head-to-Head

Despite having nearly even head-to-head records, Suwon FC are yet to beat Gangwon away from home, only managing to avoid defeat once in four attempts. However, they did manage to claim the scalps of the Bears back in April, so will hope to use any momentum and knowledge from that game to rid themselves of an unwanted statistic.

What to Watch

Can Gangwon finally win?

As Wednesday's game against Ulsan showed, Gangwon's continuing woes are not down to a lack of effort. They defended resolutely, looked sharp on the counter and, for a large portion of the second half, appeared to have things under control. Yet, the Bears still failed to come away with all three points, leaving them six games without a win. They'll hope to avenge their sloppy defeat at the hands of Suwon in April here, and in the process turn around a dreadful run of form. Whether they actually can, though, remains to be seen.

Are Suwon starting to find their feet in the first division?

At one point in the season, Suwon looked like they were near certain to face an unenviably uphill struggle for survival. Of course, it's hard to firmly consider a team relegation bound early in any campaign, but with one win in their opening nine games, it was hard to see Kim Do-kyun and co. as anything other than troubled. A 2-1 win against Gangwon appeared to be a watershed moment, though, and led to a string of improved performances which saw the once bottom-placed side move up to 7th. Suwon now look comfortable in their return to the division, and may well be far less endangered than initially thought.

Who to Watch

Rim Chang-woo

Despite not featuring in Kim Byung-soo's matchday squad until the 17th April - where he was an unused substitute - Rim Chang-woo has since developed into an integral part of his manager's midfield four. Operating on the right hand side, Rim has been reliable both in attack and defence, a point emphasised by the fact that he has played the entirety of Gangwon's last five fixtures. He may be yet to taste victory at his new club, but if he keeps his consistency, there's no reason why he can't experience some semblance of success in the coming weeks and months.