Preview: Jeonnam Dragons vs Chungnam Asan FC

The first mid-week game for K League 2 clubs sees unbeaten fifth place Jeonnam Dragons take on ninth place Chungnam Asan FC. The Dragons will be looking to extend their clean sheet record to four in four games, but also add some much needed goals against a team who have shipped eight goals in just three games, the most in the competition. Joshua Higgins previews the upcoming game.

Match: Jeonnam Dragons vs Chungnam Asan FC
Venue: Gwangyang Football Stadium
Kick-off: Wednesday, 27th May 2020; 7pm

Last Time Out

Seoul E-Land 0 - 0 Jeonnam Dragons

The third game for Jeonnam ended as many would have suspected, keeping a clean sheet. Their well organised defence look a challenge for any team this season, and this game was no different, with an in form Seoul E-Land attacking line up struggling to create meaningful chances. And when those chances came a stalwart Park Jun-hyeok was on hand to deny them. While they didn't deserve to lose this match up, they certainly didn't deserve to win it either, a draw being the fair result.

For as happy manager Jeon Kyung-jun must be with a third consecutive clean sheet, and unbeaten start to the season still intact, the lack of chances created in the final third must be a concern. Since the season began, the Dragons have mustered a meager six shots on target over the three games (zero on target on Sunday), and are in desperate need of some creativity, with their solitary goal coming from a set piece.

It's unclear from Sunday's game what the Dragons are trying to do in their attacking plays, 199cm striker Julian was back in the first eleven but his height wasn't utilized at all, leading him to be dragged off at half time. Jeon will clearly be working on their attacking patterns on the training ground this week.

Highlights

Chungnam Asan FC 0 - 5 Suwon FC

Asan had a disastrous result last game out, shipping five at home with no response. The scoreline suggests either that Chungnam were off their game, or Suwon had a blinder, but the truth is somewhere in the middle.

The goals were either very well taken, or slightly lucky, with a sprinkling of poor goalkeeping, but Asan will still be aggrieved with how easy it was for Suwon to find space in favorable positions around their box. Despite making changes at half time and early in the second half, they offered nothing in attack, their only attempt on target (a tame freekick from thirty plus yards out), and a header that whistled past the post, both coming in the first half.


Highlights

Previous Meetings

In recent history the two teams have only met five times, owing to the Dragons only recently being relegated to K League 2, with Chungnam coming out slightly better with two wins to Jeonnam's one.

The last match came in September 2019 and saw Chungnam win 1-0 with a 77th minute goal from Choi Yo-seb. Both teams on Wednesday will see very different names on their team sheets, and the upcoming clash will be the first since Asan became a citizen club.

Team News

Jeonnam fans will be wondering when they will get to see winter signing Rodolfo in the flesh, with the Brazilian again being out of the squad on Sunday due to injury, making it highly unlikely we will see him on Wednesday. The Dragons have some positive news though, as Lee Hoo-gwon will be available for selection again after serving his one match ban following his second yellow in the win against Jeju United in round 2.

The 5-0 loss to Suwon may see Chungnam make swathes of changes to their starting eleven, but they also have some injuries to contend with, including Philip Hellquist, and possible injuries to Park Min-seo and Kim In-kyun. It's almost certain manger Park Dong-hyuk will want to address the back line, but it's unclear whether in such as short turn around between matches he will feel confident handed out season debuts to some of the other players.

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The Adversary

The 5-0 loss to Suwon is the worst under manager Park Dong-hyuk since he took over in 2017 (during the Mugunghwa era), and the former Jeonbuk and Ulsan defender will be looking to bounce back from that humiliation this Wednesday.

The back four looked sluggish last time out, and the upcoming schedule won't help a demoralized team to get back to being able to compete. The team know they are capable of producing results after coming within nine minutes of taking all three points away to inform Daejeon just over a week ago, and can perhaps take some confidence away from the fact that in their first three games, they have played the three teams who currently sit in first, second, and third in the league.

What To Watch

Following Chungnam's collapse versus Suwon, this might be as a safe a time as ever for Jeonnam manager Jeon to try out some different approaches in his side's attack. The Dragons have been extremely conservative in their approach to trying to win games, preferring to hold back players to protect their defence rather than committing men forward to increase their options in the final third.

But they have to try something different if they want to keep pace with the early front runners, and this game could see the Dragons pushing more players up field, potentially making this one of the more entertaining games for Jeonnam fans.

Prediction

Less of a prediction, and more of a hope. As outlined in the What To Watch section above, if Jeonnam do use this game as a chance to try and build up their goal difference then we should see a lot more chances for the men in yellow.

As for Chungnam, following a heavy defeat, teams tend to tighten up rather than go gung-ho in the following match, so this game should see Jeonnam have more possession and more chances, however they still lack quality in their finishing so I can see many opportunities spurned. For that reason, I'm going to go for an optimistic 1-0 or 2-0 to the Dragons.

Full-time Prediction: Jeonnam Dragons 2 - 0 Chungnam Asan FC