Professional soccer K-League 1 continues its fierce competition for rankings again this weekend. Only 4 games to advance to the final round. During this period, there was a power leak in each team due to the aftermath of the Hangzhou Asian Games (AG). On the other hand, there are teams that do not have draft players. One of them is Suwon Samsung.
As of the 16th, Suwon is again in 12th place (5 wins, 7 draws, 17 losses, 22 points). The gap with 10th place Suwon FC (8 wins, 5 draws, 17 losses, 29 points) is 7 points, and 11th place Gangwon FC (4 wins, 12 draws, 14 losses, 21 points) is 2 points behind. In order to get out of the promotion playoffs (PO), they need to surpass 9th place Jeju (9 wins, 8 draws, 13 losses, 35 points), but it is realistically difficult to close the gap of 13 points in the remaining 9 games. This is why Suwon coach Kim Byung-soo repeatedly says during the season, “We have no choice but to do our best in every game.”
스포츠토토 Suwon’s first opponent after the break is 7th place Daegu FC (10 wins, 11 draws, 9 losses, 41 points). Suwon is ahead of the 30th round of Hana One Q K League 1 2023 against Daegu, which will be held at Suwon World Cup Stadium at 4:30 pm on the 17th. Their record against opponents this season is 1 draw and 1 loss.
There is also good news for Suwon. As the 33rd round of K League 1 and the Hangzhou AG period overlapped, each team faced the variable of power leakage. On the other hand, Suwon is an exception. Not a single player was selected to the Hangzhou AG national team led by coach Hwang Seon-hong. During the A-match period, only two players were selected to the national team: Lee Ki-je (national team) and Kim Joo-chan (Olympic national team).
The first opponent, Daegu, is missing key defender Hwang Jae-won. In addition, first-team players such as Se Jing-ya (rib injury), Oh Seung-hoon (neck injury), and Cho Jin-woo (accumulated warnings) are likely to miss the game.
The conditions for the remaining opponents until the final round are similar. Incheon United and Pohang Steelers both had vacancies in AG-directed personnel. Only Daejeon Hana Citizen has less power leakage than Suwon.
Fans are paying attention to whether Suwon, which is less subject to Hangzhou AG’s variables, will be able to take advantage of this and succeed in turning the situation around.
Meanwhile, at 2 p.m. on the same day, a match will be held between 4th place FC Seoul (11 wins, 10 draws, 8 losses, 43 points) and 3rd place Gwangju FC (12 wins, 9 draws, 8 losses, 45 points) at Seoul World Cup Stadium. Attention is drawn to the match between Seoul, which has 1 win and 1 draw under the acting manager Kim Jin-gyu’s system, and Gwangju, which is undefeated in the last 9 games (4 wins, 5 draws). The Korea Professional Football League selected this game as Match of the Round.