After last weekends final regular season game drama the K League Classic can now move on forward. This weekend is the start of the post-split fixtures with the relegation group (group B) playing on Saturday and the Championship group (group A) playing on Sunday. The fixtures are listed above. (Note: Suwon Bluewings and Gangwon both have bye weeks)
This weekend as well as next week is an international break and so some teams will be missing a few players because of this. South Korea host Haiti today (Friday) at the Sungui Arena home to Incheon United and then face Croatia at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium home of Jeonbuk Motors on Tuesday. These may not seem very exciting but they do host Brazil next month at the Seoul World Cup Stadium (Saturday Oct 12th).
Here are our brief previews of each game as well as predictions for this K League Classic Round 27:
K League Classic Round 27:
Seongnam vs. Daejeon Citizen (Saturday 7pm)
The first game of the post-split season and it sees 8th placed Seongnam facing bottom of the league Daejeon. This game on paper is a little one sided as Seongnam are only 9 points off the top of the league but sadly are in the bottom half, Daejeon are bottom with only 2 wins all season. Seongnam should win this one however they have little to play for and may face automatic relegation due to the teams sale to Ansan.
Prediction: 2 – 0
Daegu vs. Jeju United (Saturday 5pm)
9th placed Jeju United (2nd in Group B) face 12th placed Daegu who currently sit in the relegation playoff position. Jeju won their last 2 games but narrowly missed out on a spot in the top half. Daegu have only won once in their last 7 games (vs. Daejeon) and will hope for a change of fortunes in this final stage of the season. Jeju should beat Daegu considering their recent form but Daegu need the win a lot more which maybe a factor.
Prediction: 0 – 1
Chunnam Dragons vs. Gyeongnam (Saturday 7pm)
In the last of Saturdays games 10th placed (3rd in Group B) Chunnam Dragons host Gyeongnam who sit one place below them. Chunnam have improved in recent weeks winning and drawing their last 2 games. Gyeongnam on the other hand are in a bit of a slump as they are winless in their last 8 games, with only 2 draws. Both teams need a win to boost their survival chances. We feel this will sadly end in a bore 0-0.
Prediction: 0 – 0
Jeonbuk Motors vs. Pohang Steelers (Sunday 5pm)
3rd placed Jeonbuk Motors host current league leaders Pohang in the 1st of Sundays Championship Group games. Pohang have been on a bit of a slide in recent weeks with only 1 win in their last 4 games. Jeonbuk on the other have been looking stronger and stronger easily beating Incheon United last weekend. We feel this should be an entertaining game and one Jeonbuk will edge.
Prediction: 1 – 0
Busan I’Park vs. FC Seoul (Sunday 7pm)
Busan I’Park just squeezed into the top half of the league on the final day of the regular season and therefore start bottom of the Championship Ground Split. FC Seoul are currently 4th and face a difficult game as they are missing 4 players on International duty (Busan are only missing 1). FC Seoul have the slightly better recent form however Busan beat Pohang, Incheon and Ulsan last month. We feel that Busan could edge this one narrowly.
Prediction: 2 – 1
Ulsan Hyundai vs. Incheon United (Sunday 5pm)
In the final game of the weekend 2nd placed Ulsan Hyundai host 6th placed Incheon United. Ulsan still have their sights on the championship and are currently just 1 point behind Pohang. Incheon on the other hand are focusing on the slight chance of making the top 3 and a place in the AFC Champions League. Both teams have pretty average recent form both home and away. We feel this one will be a draw.
Prediction: 1 – 1
K League Classic Round 27 Results
Saturday September 7th
Daegu 0 – 1 Jeju United
Chunnam Dragons 1 – 1 Gyeongnam
Seongnam 3 – 1 Daejeon Citizen
Sunday September 8th
Jeonbuk Motors 0 – 3 Pohang Steelers
Ulsan Hyundai 2 – 1 Incheon United
Busan I’Park 0 – 0 FC Seoul
Our Round 26 Predictions Round Up
This round we predicted 3 correct results and 1 perfect score (all from Saturdays games).
K League Challenge
The K League Challenge moves into Round 23 and this weekends games are again spread over 3 days. The highlight game is on Sunday and between 5th placed Goyang Hi and 3rd placed Gwangju, Goyang have been on amazing form recently and Gwangju will have a tough task stopping them.
K League Challenge Round 23 Results
Bucheon 1995 0 – 1 Suwon City FC
Goyang Hi 5 – 1 Gwangju (Wow!)
Sangju Sangmu 1 – 0 Chungju Hummel
FC Anyang 1 – 2 Korean Police
Incheon United Update
For any Incheon United fans or followers that might be interested here are the fixtures until the end of the season:
We’ll try and do some other teams over the next week or so (if there is interest).
Closing
For information on last weekend, K League Classic Round 26 please CLICK HERE.
As always if you have anything you’d like to add please let us know and week.
We will try and keep things updated as best as possible via Twitter (and little via Facebook).
Tim
Modern Seoul
tim@modernseoul.org
Modern Seoul 