K-League: Reloaded Sangju Sangmu Looking to Bounce Back

Sangju Sangmu vs Gangwon FC

While SBOBET fans are awaiting for the likes of the Premier League, Serie A, and Bundesliga to return, one must not overlook with what’s happening on the other side of the world.

The K-League 2020 season just started over a week ago, and that should quench our thirst for some football action since the matches are available in various online platforms.

Just like when the K-League All-Stars held an international friendly against Juventus last year, the top-flight league in South Korea garnered significant interest with 3.4 million viewers on Twitter and 234,000 viewers on YouTube, making it a very successful first week.

For this preview, we will feature two middling teams last season as Sangju Sangmu will get to host Gangwon FC at the Sangju Civic Stadium.

The home team will be more than eager to brush aside their bad start when they lost to Ulsan Hyundai while the road team will look to sustain their momentum after winning against FC Seoul last week.

Talking Points

Can Sangju Sangmu replicate their success last season?

Sangju Sangmu defied the K-League 2020 odds when they finished seventh at the table last season. The Kim Tae-wan-coached squad were expected to be cellar dwellers, but he has done a great job in getting the most out of his players.

They relied on the talents of Yoon Bit-garam and Kim Min-woo who provided quality and stability for the squad. But with both of them no longer with the team, Kim Tae-wan was busy during the offseason to acquire new reinforcements.

Kim Tae-wan did a superb job in retooling his roster with 16 new signings. Two of those were Kwon Kyung-won and Moon Seon-min who were part of the Korean national team and the Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors championship team last term.

They’ve also signed the likes of Lee Myung-jae, Park Yong-woo, and Oh Se-hoon who should be great additions as well.

Moon Seon-min will be the x-factor for Sangju Sangmu’s hopes this season. Last year, the 27-year-old winger notched 10 goals and nine assists and he will be tasked to spearhead their attack.

Another player to look out for is Oh Se-hoon. The 21-year-old striker scored seven goals in 30 appearances last season and was part of the U23 Korean national team.

Last week, the Firebirds were dealt a huge beating when they lost 4-0 against Ulsan Hyundai, so it’s clear that Kim Tae-wan will have his work cut out for him in the next few matchdays.

However, once they get their rhythm, we can expect Sangju Sangmu to be a dark horse contender in this K-League 2020 season.

Gangwon FC looking to fortify their defence

Injuries from Kim Ji-hyun and Cho Jae-wan have derailed Gangwon FC’s lofty aspirations last season, so bringing them back at full strength will be the utmost priority for team manager Kim Byung-soo.

The attacking duo are more than capable of producing the best K-League 2020 highlights. Last term, they were excellent in the first half of the season when they netted 18 goals up until they suffered season-ending injuries.

Since then, Gangwon FC only won three times in their last 15 matches, but they still ended up in sixth place.

Like Sangju Sangmu, Gangwon FC went on to get some key pieces ahead of this campaign. They were able to acquire the services of Kim Seung-dae and Ko Mu-yeol from Jeonbuk and Lim Chae-min from Seongnam who will definitely help on both ends for the club.

The prospect of having Kim Seung-dae, Cho Jae-wan, and Kim Ji-hyun would be a scary proposition for opponents as they are some of the top goalscorers that we have in the K-League, so attacking won’t be an issue for them.

What does need work, however, is their backline as they’ve conceded a league-worst 58 goals last season. Lim Chae-min will definitely help on that end, but the goalkeeper spot should be up for grabs between Lee Beom-soo and Lee Gwang-yeon.

History

Sangju Sangmu have gotten the better out of Gangwon FC in their last few encounters, winning four of the last five. At the same time, Gangwon FC were winless in their last 10 matches on the road.

In their 23 total matches together, Sangju Sangmu won in nine while Gangwon FC won in 12 along with two draws.

Betting Tip

	Sangju Sangmu vs Gangwon FC	Gangwon FC Asian Handicap -0.25 @ 1.97
	May 16, 13:00 (GMT+8)

Judging by how these two teams performed last week, it looks like that Gangwon FC will have the slight advantage coming into this match because of the chemistry they’ve exhibited.

The Kodiaks were pushed by FC Seoul when they were down 1-0 in the first half. But they turned things around in the second half to finish at 3-1 through their much improved defence and controlling the possessions game.

Meanwhile, the same can’t be said for Sangju Sangmu especially since they looked lost last week against Ulsan Hyundai, but they should give the visitors a tough time this weekend.