Suwon vs Vissel Kobe 19/02/20

19 February 2020

Suwon will kick-start their AFC Champions League (CL) group stage campaign at home when Vissel Kobe arrive at the Suwon World Cup Stadium this midweek.

It will be Suwon’s first match since the turn of the year, as they hope to bounce back after a disastrous 4-1 away defeat to Sangju Sangmu in their last fixture ahead of the winter break. Before that, the hosts had avoided defeat in five consecutive games (W2, D3), keeping a clean sheet on three of those occasions, while scoring precisely four goals per match twice. For Suwon, goals have been in short supply at home lately. They’ve scored under 1.5 goals in nine of their past 11 home outings in all competitions, failing to find the net in the first half eight times in the process. Also, seven of their last ten home matches have featured under 2.5 goals, with just three seeing both teams score.

In the meantime, the visitors have kicked off their CL campaign with a 5-1 thumping of Johor at home to extend their unbeaten run to seven games (W6, D1). Impressively, five of their victories during that period have yielded a multiple-goal margin, with four seeing Vissel score three goals or more. Also, seven of their last nine away fixtures have seen over 2.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet, although ‘Ushi’ managed just two wins across those matches (D2, L4). Yet, quick-start Kobe have opened the scoring in eight of their previous 11 road trips in all competitions, finding the back of the net in the first 45 minutes nine times along the way. Kobe’s main problem ahead of this trip is their fragile backline that has failed to keep a blank sheet in 19 of their last 20 away matches.