FA Cup Preview: Jeonnam Dragons vs Chungju Citizen

 K League 2 team Jeonnam Dragons welcome lowly K4 League Chungju Citizen to Gwangyang Football Stadium this Saturday for this season's FC Cup opener. Although not officially connected, K3 League separates the two teams, and long established professional club (at least by Korean standards) Jeonnam will be expecting to blow the minnows, hailing from North Chungcheong, out of the water.

Match: Jeonnam Dragons vs Chungju Citizen
Venue: Gwangyang Football Stadium
Kick-off: Saturday, 6th June 2020: 3pm

Last Time Out

Jeonnam Dragons 1 - 1 FC Anyang

Frankly, the Dragons were fortunate to come out of this game with their unbeaten start to the season intact. Julian Kristoffersen converted a 93rd minute penalty, courtesy of VAR, to ensure the home team walked off the pitch with their fourth draw of the season, causing them to slip to fifth in the league.

They would have been seriously hoping to win this one coming into the FA Cup period, considering their following three league games see them play the sides currently occupying the top three places, this would have been a good chance to put points on the board. Though they clearly have been trying to play a more attacking style in the games versus Chungnam Asan and FC Anyang, it hasn't quite worked, and has seen them more exposed at the back.

Highlights

Namdong 1 - 0 Chungju Citizen

Last time out they lost to top of the table Incheon Namdong in a game decided by a 38th minute counter attack that the visitors couldn't respond to.

The Citizens have picked up three points from three games in the K4 League this season, which sees them languishing in eighth position in the table. Goals have been a problem for the North Chungcheong team this year, recording only one goal so far, and it's unlikely they will get too many opportunities to add to that tally this Saturday as they come up against a side with the best defensive record in their division.

Highlights

Previous Meetings

Having only been founded in December 2017, Chungju Citizen have never played Jeonnam Dragons, either in a competitive, or friendly capacity. The highest placed team they have faced in their short history was fellow K League 2 team, Suwon FC, in which they were humbled 6-0 away from home last March.

[READ: FA Cup Round 2 Preview]

Team News

Dragons will still be without Rodolfo due his knee injury during the winter, and Ha Seun-gun may be out after being substituted with goalscorer Julian Kristoffersen in the game against Anyang in the 37th minute.

As for Chungju, this will be their biggest game of the season, so expect to see their strongest eleven out on the pitch.

[LISTEN: KLU Pod | K League 1 Round 3 Recap]

The Adversary

The away team haven't had a strong start to the season, and sit in eighth place in the table, more or less where they will expect to finish the season. They are currently playing all games away from home which certainly can't help them in the league, but may make them more comfortable travelling away from home in this FA Cup tie.

Like most lower league teams, Chungju normally play their games on an artificial pitch, which may cause some problems for them when they travel to Jeollanamdo this weekend to play in a football specific stadium with a grass pitch.

What To Watch

It's really difficult to predict what team manager Jeon Kyung-jun will put out for Jeonnam, but he may opt to field a strong team in preparation for the upcoming Bucheon 1995 away game the following week. If that's the case then we should see plenty of effort focused on getting the ball forward quickly, as it's likely Bucheon will be seeing the majority of possession and he will use this game as a training exercise, unless of course, Chungju can cause an upset.

Prediction

Surely an easy win for the Dragons, they've shown all preseason the difference in class between K League 1 or 2 teams and those of lower divisions.

Full-time Prediction: Jeonnam Dragons 3 - 0 Chungju Citizen