Preview: Suwon FC VS Ansan Greeners

A resurgent Ansan Greeners travel to local rivals Suwon FC on Sunday evening looking to continue their fine form against a home side who have stuttered in their last two outings and desperately need a victory to maintain a grip on the race for the playoffs.
(image via K League)

Last Time Out

These two sides are in opposite form given the previous two games, with Suwon FC suffering two defeats on the trot, while Ansan have managed to pick up back-to-back victories under caretaker manager Lee Youngmin, arrested their recent run of bad form. Last time out, Suwon suffered a 2-0 home defeat against 9th placed Seoul E-land, leaving Kim Daeui's men 3 points adrift of the promotion spots. Ansan managed to put their ten game losing streak to bed two weekends ago with an eyebrow raising victory away at Bucheon. They managed to win again against promotion chasing Gwangju in a five goal thriller at the Wa Stadium. Lim Hyuntae and Lee Changhoon both equalised for Ansan before Jang Hyeokjin scored a sublime free kick to seal the three points for the Green Wolves. Seven points seperates the two sides, with Ansan in 10th on 29 and Suwon in 6th on 36.

Previous Meetings

This will be the fourth and final match betwen the two sides this season. Ansan won the first encounter back in April thanks to a Choi Hojoo penalty at the Wa Stadium, but Suwon won both the subsequent fixtures 1-0 in May and July. Bae Jihoon and Fernando Viana scored the winners for Suwon in those games.

Team News

Suwon FC have no suspensions heading into this match. Conneh returns from international duty for Ansan, having come as a late substitute in Liberia's AFCoN qualifer with DR Congo. Park Junhee is suspended after picking up his fourth yellow card of the season against Gwagju last Sunday. Raul is still an injury doubt for the Greeners.

Who To Watch

Having scored just two goals in ten matches, Ansan have now found the net five times in their past two games. Lee Youngmin appears to have it sussed from the 'Midas touch-line,' but it is 23 year-old Kim Hyuntae who has been given a new lease of life, scoring in each of Ansan's previous two games. Expect him to look lively along with a general resurgance across the Ansan eleven. Suwon will be looking to turn their fortunes around and will be joping Brazilian top scorer Viana can find his goal scoring boots. This game is usually a fiesty affair, so expect Suwon's bad boy Cho Yumin and Ansan's Shin Ilsoo and Lee Geon to get involved in any heated momements.

Prediction

This fixture produced some absolute crackers last season, and with Ansan finally scoring goals and with Suwon looking to recapture their form before the play-offs slip away, this could be one of the standout games of the weekend.

Predicted Score: Suwon FC 2-2 Ansan Greeners