Preview: Daegu FC vs Suwon Samsung Bluewings

Daegu FC will host Suwon Samsung Bluewings for the third meeting of this season at DGB Daegu Bank Park Tuesday night. With the previous two meetings between them ended in goalless draws, both sides will be keen to open the scoring and take the first three points from this fixture. K League United Daegu FC Columnist Muyeol Jung with the preview.

Last Time Out

Sangju Sangmu 2-0 Daegu FC

It was an absolute disaster for the Daegu FC side that headed to the north of Gyeongsang in the pursuit of their second win in a row. Sloppy defensive play and structural issues with experimental sides costed them the three points.

The Soldiers took the lead through Yoon Bitgaram from a spot kick eight minutes after they blew away their first penalty which was saved by Korean international goalkeeper Jo Hyeonwoo 13 minutes into the first half. Afterwards, the hosts continued to dominate the game wholly with so many dangerous chances.

Less than five minutes after half time, the Soldiers stunningly doubled their lead through a great team move from the right hand side to the goal mouth area, using one-touch passing, which resulting in Lee Kyusung lobbing the ball over Daegu’s shot stopper. After Sangju went to 2-0 up, they started to sit back and defended well. Daegu looked unable to break the compact defence and the hosts held on the lead to take all three points without conceding a goal in the end.

Highlights: here

Suwon Samsung Bluewings 1-2 Seongnam FC

Suwon Bluewings’s three wins in a row was halted by Seongnam FC at Big Bird Stadium. Around half way into the first half, a sloppy clearance in Suwon’s own half turned out to be something of a breakthrough in the game. The hosts went down to 10 men after defender Min Sangki was shown a direct red card for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity just outside of the box through VAR review. Nevertheless, the hosts effectively controlled the game until Seongnam defender Lim Chaemin fired home with a great header from a corner kick at stoppage time before the break.

In the second half, surprisingly, the 10 man side found an equaliser through Australian forward Adam Taggart who put it away into the net after Han Euikwon found himself without a man inside the box on 73 mins. Then, ten minutes later, the Magpies regained their lead and held onto record their sixth win of the season after Kong Minhyun’s effort found a lucky trajectory after it was deflected by the defender and into the net.

Highlights: here

Previous Meetings

Daegu FC and Suwon Samsung Bluewings had two meetings this season which both ended in goalless draws at each home thanks to astonishing saves from both teams’ shot stoppers, Jo Hyeonnwoo and No Donggeon. Interestingly, the ties were played right after the Sky Blues’ AFC Champions League away trip to Japan in April and China in May, but Daegu were the better-side despite the fatigue. However, unfortunately, they couldn't find a way through Suwon's No Donggeon.

Head to head, the Bluewings have been favourites to get the results when they face the Sky Blues as the citizen club have pulled off only three wins with ten draws from 35 meetings. However, the recent meetings saw a bit different tendency including a nine year long overdue win over Suwon in the third meeting of 2018 season when Daegu thrashed them 4-2 at home for the first time since 2009 October.

Team News

One week off in the middle of hot and humid summer must have been sufficient to give Andre’s lads rest and shore up their tactical performances on the pitch except Korea international goalkeeper Jo Hyeonwoo, and one of the best attackers, Cesinha who were involved in a friendly game last Friday night against Juventus at Seoul World Cup Stadium. The Korean shot stopper earned 45 minutes of playing time with one goal conceded, while the Brazilian completed the full 90 minutes with a great goal fired into the Old Lady’s net, followed by the Cristiano Ronaldo signature celebration in front of the Portuguese.

In previous league game against Sangju, Daegu FC clearly exposed conspicuous drawbacks in tactics which were pleasantly exploited by Sangju Sangmu. Without a target man upfront following Edgar sidelined due to injury, playing Cesinha and Rildo wide was not enough to score and the attack was mainly reliant on individual efforts such as shots from distance. Also, the defence conceded two first half penalties, even though Daegu gaffer Andre quickly made an alternation with Han Heehoon replacing Park Hanbin.

For a game against Suwon, majority of the squad will be available for selection with a few out due to injuries. First of all, towering centre back Jeong Taewook will likely start to form a back three after he came on as substitute in the previous game. This is certainly music to Daegu fans’ ears after a downturn in aerial duels without him. Also, diligent midfielder Jung Seungwon is expected to make the squad after he returned to the team from a suspected injury which side lined him for three games.

Meanwhile, former U20 Brazil national team forward Edgar still remains uncertain and unlikely to play. In this case, Daegu’s second signing Park Kidong, who joined the Andre’s side on six month loan from Gyeongnam FC, could get involved to square off his former team Suwon to replace Edgar upfront along with Cesinha and Kim Daewon. However, the third signing Yoon Jongtae, brought in from International Pacific University in Japan is unlikely to make squad as he is more regarded as young potential player for the future. Finally, between the sticks, Jo Hyeonwoo will be positioned as usual with his hope of moving to Europe this summer nearly over.

Injury list: Tsubasa (ACL, out of the season), Hong Jungwoon (ACL, out of the season), Edgar (dislocated shoulder, expected to return in August).

The Adversary

Six placed Suwon Samsung Bluewings will make a trip to Daegu in the hope of narrowing down the gap from the top five in the table. During the break, the Bluewings lent two key players to Team K League for a friendly against Juventus; Australian international forward Adam Taggart and Korean international wingback Hong Chul. The Korean earned 45 minutes, while the Aussie scored the third of night for the team with stunning performances in the second half after he came on as substitute at the break in a 3-3 draw.

Adam Taggart is the top goal scorer in K League and has bagged five goals from four appearances in July.

Meanwhile, the Bluewings signed with another Australian international Terry Antonis from Melbourne Victory to fill the vacancy left after Elvis Sarić’s departure to Saudi Arabia. Terry is known as versatile midfielder capable of playing in almost any position in midfield. Also, they sent winger Lim Sanghyub to Jeju United on loan till the end of the season.

For the game against Daegu FC, the Bluewings will make as best selection as possible on form except defender Min Sangki who is unavailable due to the sent off. They will play in their usual 3-4-1-2 formation and the line up will be similar to the team played in previous game.

What To Watch

Cesinha from Daegu FC and Adam Taggart from Suwon Samgsung Bluewings, who both played in the same shirt to represent K League in a friendly last Friday, are set to play against each other for their own teams’ victory.

The Brazilian attacker Cesinha has been influential in Andre’s side with eight goals and six assists and he got nationwide reputation thanks to his massive contribution to the team’s success in K League. Moreover, the goal against Juventus and in particular, his Cristiano Ronaldo celebration in front of the Ronaldo himself earned him further recognition from all over the world.

In the meantime, the Australian forward Taggart also has been on fire with 12 goals in and is the top scorer with five of 12 goals coming in July, helping to guide Suwon up the table. Literally, no one couldn’t stop him scoring goals and Suwon won three games of four where the Aussie scored in July. He will be a huge threat to a defensively struggling  Daegu FC side

Prediction

Not only do both sides have good foreign attacking talent as shown, but also have decent goalkeepers between the sticks; Korean international Jo Hyeonwoo and former youth Korean international No Donggeon. Therefore, it will be a very close game although both are in desperate need of a win in the league as previous meetings this year saw both shot stoppers outstanding in the end.

Predicted Score: Daegu FC 1-1 Suwon Samsung Bluewings

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