K-League: Champions in Desperate Need of Win at Incheon

Incheon United vs Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors are K-League leaders no more. The reigning champions dropped points for the second game in a row, which has allowed rivals Ulsan to jump up to first in the table.

However, the Warriors couldn’t have asked for a better matchup to get a much-needed win as they take on bottom club Incheon United.

Eleven games into the season, Incheon are still in search of their first win of the campaign. Although, the K-League 2020 betting odds understandably aren’t too keen on their chances of doing so against the champions.

Talking Points

Incheon still in search of first win

Incheon United finally ended their disastrous eight-game losing skid in incredible fashion as they held high-flying Sangju Sangmu to a 1-1 draw at home.

Incheon looked dead and buried early in the second half. Sangju went ahead three minutes after the break, then Incheon had two players sent off.

However, the home side still managed to score a late equaliser at the death to stun the third-placed military men.

Of course, Incheon will now be without suspended midfielder Jea-Ho Lee, who lasted just seven minutes in his season debut before getting sent off, as well as forward Song Si-Woo.

Despite struggling for goals all season, interim coach Joong-yong Lim — who has taken over following Lee Ki-hyung’s resignation — didn’t play co-leading scorer Stefan Mugosa (two goals) against Sangju.

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Serie A

Mugosa had just scored Incheon’s consolation goal in their 4-1 defeat against high-scoring Ulsan in their previous match. However, he has struggled with fitness issues all season, which is why he’s been unable to recreate the form that saw him score a team-leading 14 goals in 2019.

Incheon have only scored five goals all season, but their chances of scoring will be slightly higher if Mugosa plays. The Montenegrin scored three times in three games against Jeonbuk back in the 2018 season.

Jeonbuk need to return to winning ways

Jeonbuk are in the midst of their first slump of the season. After suffering a 1-0 defeat away to Sangju, they had the perfect opportunity to bounce back at home against a struggling Seongnam side that had scored just six goals all season.

However, the champions were behind after just three minutes and were 2-0 down at half-time. To their credit, they staged a second-half comeback to level it up at 2-2. Han Gyo-Won scored Jeonbuk’s first goal as he kept up his impressive scoring binge of late. He’s now scored five goals in the last seven games.

Jeonbuk and very nearly completed the remarkable turnaround by scoring a late winner, but it was disallowed.

Those five dropped points over the last two games have allowed Ulsan to leapfrog Jeonbuk for the league lead.

Jeonbuk got back to winning ways with a 3-2 win over local rivals Jeonnam Dragons in their FA Cup round-of-16 tie, but they needed extra time to do so after they conceded a late equaliser.

Son Jun-ho, who has been the team’s top playmaker with five assists this season, scored early in the extra time to send the Warriors on their way.

Jeonbuk manager Jose Morais will be disappointed in his defence conceding two goals in the last two games after giving up just five in their first 10 games in the league.

However, they should fancy their chances of keeping a clean sheet against Incheon, who are the lowest scoring side in the league by a significant margin.

History

Jeonbuk have a terrific head-to-head record against Incheon. They’ve won 15 out of their last 32 meetings, with Incheon winning just five.

Incheon have won just one out of their last 13 encounters, with Jeonbuk undefeated in the last six (four wins, two draws). The two just met last month as the champions won at home 1-0 thanks to a Lee Dong-Gook penalty.

Jeonbuk have now kept a clean sheet in each of their last four meetings against Incheon after completely shutting them out in their three meetings last year.

Betting Tip

	Incheon United vs Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Under 2.50 @ 2.08
	19 Jul 2020, 18:00 (GMT+8)

SBOBET odds have Jeonbuk as heavy 1.42 favourites to pick up the win, while Incheon are priced at 6.60 at home. A draw is 4.50.

Jeonbuk’s high-scoring draw against Seongnam was a bit of a fluke. I don’t expect that to happen again, especially against an Incheon side with even weaker attacking weapons.

Instead, expect Jeonbuk to do what they’ve done for most of the season: keep things tight at the back and win a low-scoring affair. Seven of Jeonbuk’s 11 matches this season have seen two goals or fewer, and this matchup against Incheon has the makings of No. 8.