Preview: Daejeon Citizen vs Suwon FC

Two teams struggling for form, Daejeon Citizen and Suwon FC, will be doing their utmost to get back on firmer footing when the two meet this Sunday. In K League 2 Round 20, Kim Daeui's Suwon FC side will make the short trip to Purple Arena looking to pick up a first win in five. For the Purples, new manager Lee Heungsil will be hoping that it's third time lucky having lost both his two previous games since taking charge.

Overview

via Soccerway

Last Time Out

Jeonnam Dragons 2-0 Daejeon Citizen

Daejeon Citizen fell to their fifth defeat in a row, and tenth in 12 matches, with a 2-0 reverse to fellow strugglers Jeonnam Dragons last Sunday. Han Chanhee put the Dragons in front with just seven minutes on the clock to get the hosts off to a perfect start. Brazilian forward Bruno was allowed to make his way to the byline, despite some pressure from Ahn Sanghyeon, before pulling the ball back to Han Chanhee 10 yards out who duly found the bottom corner.

Choi Jaehyeon made it two on 28 minutes, despite VAR's attempt to chalk the goal off for offside, the forward fired in superbly past a helpless Kim Jinyoung. The goal stood and gave Fabiano Soares his third win in five for the Dragons.

Highlights: here

Suwon FC 0-1 Busan IPark

Busan did their best to keep up with league leaders Gwangju with a slender 1-0 away win over an out of sorts Suwon FC. The only goal of the game came on the hour mark when Brazilian midfielder Rômulo found the near post from a free-kick at a tight angle from just outside the box.

The 24 year-old curled the ball around Suwon's two-man wall, wrong-footing goalkeeper Park Hyungsoon at his near post. The goal was Rômulo's sixth of the campaign.

Highlights: here

Previous Meetings

Daejeon have failed to overcome Suwon FC in each of their last three attempts and have lost twice against Kim Daeui's men already this season. The most recent meeting was at Castle Park in late May when goals from An Byongjun and Chisom Egbuchunam sealed a 2-0 win for Suwon. At the tail-end of March, the two sides met at Purple Arena where, again, An Byongjun and Chisom Egbuchunam were on target in a 2-0 victory.

Last season Daejeon picked up two wins over Suwon, the most recent being a 1-0 home win last September - Ko Myeongseok with the goal, who has since transferred to cross town neighbours Suwon Bluewings.

Daejeon Citizen and Suwon FC have met on 15 previous occasions with each side picking up seven wins with the remaining match ending in a draw. At Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon have six wins from the eight meetings to Suwon's two.

Team News

Romanian forward Aurelian Chițu is back in contention after serving a one-match ban last time out. Uzbek midfielders Sanzhar Tursanov and Shohruh Gadoev, who haven't played for Daejeon since mid May, have both left the club, as has left-back Jeon Sanghoon who has joined Busan Transport in the National League.

Ahead of Lee Heungsil's first game in charge, the 1-0 away defeat to FC Anyang, the former Ansan gaffer gave goalkeeper Park Juwon the captain's armband and set his team up in a 3-4-3 with Hwang Doyeon, who worked with Coach Lee during his time at Ansan Mugunghwa, along side Yoon Shinyoung and Lee Jisol. However, after a 2-1 loss, Kim Jinyoung was given a rare start in goal with Ahn Sanghyeon taking over captain duties once again.

For the 2-0 defeat to Jeonnam, Daejeon went to back four in a 4-3-3 with Kim Seyun, who was part of the Korea U20 squad which reached the World Cup Final, as the attacking midfielder.

Daejeon Citizen lineup versus Jeonnam Dragons, K League 2 Round 19.

[LISTEN: KLU Pod: 2019 Midseason Grades.]

The Adversary

Suwon FC head into Sunday's Round 20 clash with Daejeon Citizen having lost their last four and without registering a single goal. The slump has seen Kim Daeui's men drop to fifth in the K League 2 table but just a point behind Asan Mugunghwa who occupy the final playoff spot. Coincidentally, Suwon's last win came against Asan in round 15.

Both An Byongjun and Chisom Egbuchunam have taken to life in K League with relative ease, the pair find them amongst the leading goal scorers in the division with seven and eight goals respectively. Whilst An is expected to lead the line at Purple Arena on Sunday, Chisom remains a doubt having missed the last two matches through injury. It is believed that the former Falkenberg striker could make his return to the fold on Sunday after being told he would be out for two weeks. In the absence of Chisom, Lee Jaeahn, Ahn Eunsan, Kim Byeongoh or Henri Anier are likely be the ones to flank An Byongjun.

Given Suwon's recent form, Kim Daeui has tried to shuffle the deck somewhat in order to find a winning formula once again. Against Busan last time out, Coach Kim stuck with the 4-3-3 system but brought former Citizen striker Kim Dongchan in from the cold to be deployed as an attacking midfielder, Baek Sungdong moving to central midfield. Against Bucheon in round 18 it was Baek who played in the advanced midfield role with former Daejeon midfielder Kim Jonggook in midfield whilst against Anyang Hwang Byeonggwon played as the attacking midfielder, Baek against slotting in on the left-hand side of the midfield three.

Suwon won't have any players missing through suspension but Yun Junseong, Park Yohan, Lee Hakmin, Cho Yumin, Ibrokhimov, and Jang Seongjae are all just one more yellow away from a one-match ban.

Suwon FC lineup vs Busan IPark, K League 2 Round 19.

Who To Watch

An Byongjun

An Byongjun has seven goals this term, just three less than the whole of last season in J.League 2.

Whilst Suwon have netted more than double the amount of goals as Daejeon have so far this season, having bagged 25 compared to Citizen's 12, Suwon have drawn a blank in each of their last four. Suwon's expected goals (xG) has averaged at 1.3 per game but this figure fell well below that average against Busan (0.69) and (0.74). Japan-born North Korean forward An Byongjun has seven goals to his name this term, slightly up on an xG of 6.25 and 0.44 per match. An has scored against Daejeon already this season and will definitely be one for the Purples to be wary of.

Prediction

Neither side head into Sunday's match in the best of form, more so Daejeon having not picked up a single win since April. Life under new manager Lee Heungsil appears to be just as tough as it was under his predecessor Ko Jongsoo, as well as under caretaker gaffer Park Chul. Daejeon desperately need a win and, perhaps more importantly, some good PR after the fumbled press release that revealed new signing Matheus Alessandro had tested positive for HIV in a routine blood test - some journalists called it a 'national disgrace'. That said, the club are at rock bottom morale wise and lack any real collective quality. Anything other than an away win will be very surprising.

K League 2 Round 20 Preview: here