Gangwon vs Jeonbuk Motors

Chuncheon Songam Stadium sets the stage for a high-stakes K League 1 encounter between entertainment boys Gangwon and out-of-sorts Jeonbuk Motors.

Destined to do far better than last season’s 10th-place finish, Gangwon enter this round in high spirits after stringing together four league games without losing (W3, D1) since a dreadful 4-2 home defeat to Pohang Steelers at the beginning of May. High scoring remains a common theme in Gangwon’s league fixtures, with three of those four matches seeing over 2.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet. As that’s been a theme in their last three top-flight meetings with Jeonbuk, it’s only natural to assume another action-packed contest could be in store. And it would likely benefit Yoon Jong-hwan’s team, knowing they’ve got the better of Jeonbuk in their two most recent H2Hs despite failing to keep a clean sheet on each occasion.

In the meantime, Jeonbuk’s patchy start to the new K League 1 season continued with a lackluster 0-0 home draw against Gimcheon Sangmu last time out, keeping them closer to the bottom than the playoff line. Only three points clear of basement boys Daejeon and four adrift of 6th-placed Incheon United, the visitors take this trip searching for only their fourth win in 15 league matches (W3, D5, L6). Though you’d think that’s an unlikely scenario, two of the Warriors’ three top-flight victories have come on their last four travels (W2, L2), including a 3-0 thumping of Gwangju in their most recent away game. On top of that, the Chuncheon Songam Stadium has been a happy hunting ground for Jeonbuk, with Park Won-jae’s side claiming three wins on their last four visits (L1).