Beijing Guoan vs Daegu

Beijing Guoan’s hopes of progressing into the AFC Champions League knock-outs are on the line as they welcome Daegu to the Milliy Stadium in the fourth round of the group stage fixtures.

Beijing may well wave goodbye to the Champions League after this match as they take the field on the back of consecutive defeats, both of which came by over 4.5 goals ‘to nil.’ Beijing’s defensive woes have seen them concede 2+ goals in the last four halves of the Champions League action, including a 5-0 loss to Daegu in the reverse fixture. With Daegu already five points clear of them, the ‘Imperial Guards’ have to secure all three points here, and they can draw confidence from winning two of their last three competitive home fixtures without conceding (L1). Scoring first could be of the essence, especially considering that five of Beijing’s last six home matches won/lost have seen the winner on the day record a shutout.

Meanwhile, Daegu recovered from a disappointing 3-2 away loss to Kawasaki on Matchday 1 to put together two straight Group I wins, returning a resounding +12 goal difference from those triumphs (GF:12, GA:0). Delivering action from the onset, Lee Byung-keun’s men have opened the scoring within 23 minutes in each of their three group stage games so far, adding at least one more goal before half-time in the last two. Yet, Daegu may have to worry about faltering away from home lately, having gone from four straight road victories to back-to-back road trips without winning (D1, L1). Indeed, the Koreans have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last four competitive away fixtures, conceding an average of 1.75 goals per game in the process.