K-League: Can FC Seoul Upset Unbeaten Ulsan?

FC Seoul vs Ulsan Hyundai

FC Seoul and Ulsan Hyundai are on completely opposite ends of the K-League form table at the moment. Seoul have lost four straight games and have conceded the most goals in the league, while second-placed Ulsan are the league’s leading scorers and are aiming to win their fourth game in a row.

The signs certainly do not look good for struggling FC Seoul as Ulsan look to extend their unbeaten run to start the season when they pay a visit to the capital this weekend.

The K-League 2020 betting odds are against them, but is there any way that FC Seoul can spring a surprise result at home against the title contenders?

Talking Points

FC Seoul still struggling mightily

FC Seoul are in freefall. After winning two of their first three matches, they’ve now tied a club record with four losses in a row. Two of those losses were embarrassing blowouts against champions Jeonbuk (1-4) and against Daegu FC (6-0), which is the most one-sided result to date in the league.

As a result of those back-to-back heavy defeats, FC Seoul manager Choi Yong-soo made a number of changes against Sangju Sangmu. He surprisingly dropped star striker Park Chu-Young in favour of Go Yo-han. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Yang Han-bin was handed his first start of the season.

Seoul successfully avoided another heavy defeat after all of those changes, but they still lost 1-0 after a somewhat unfortunate bounce on the winning goal.

FC Seoul have the worst defensive record in the league by a wide margin, with 16 goals conceded in seven games. Defensive midfielder Osmar and starting centre-back Hwang Hyun-soo are still doubtful to play due to injury, so Seoul’s backline will remain vulnerable.

Meanwhile, FC Seoul also need to sort out their attack, which has only produced five goals. Park Chu-young could potentially return to the starting line-up, but it remains to be seen whether 32-year-old Adriano, who wasn’t even part of the squad against Sangju, will feature.

Ulsan looking unstoppable on both ends

Ulsan Hyundai look unstoppable at the moment. The Horangi are coming off an impressive 3-0 win away to third-placed Gangwon FC. It took them 72 minutes to find the breakthrough against the Kodiaks, but they looked comfortable throughout the match.

Ulsan have now won three matches on the bounce. Their other two victories came against Seongnam (1-0) and Pohang Steelers (0-4).

Junior Negrao has found the net in all three of those wins as he’s continued to fill up the K-League 2020 highlights. The 33-year-old Brazilian is currently the K-League’s leading scorer with eight goals in seven games.

However, Junior Negrao is hardly the only goal threat on an Ulsan attack that’s scored a league-leading 17 goals through seven matches thus far. Kim In-sung and Yoon Bit-garam have also had strong starts to the season and already have two goals apiece.

Forward Lee Chung-young has not featured for Ulsan in the last two matches due to injury, but the “Blue Dragon” could potentially be ready to make his return to face his old team.

Lee spent five years with FC Seoul, scoring 11 goals in 54 appearances. He’s scored twice in five appearances this year, with both goals coming in the 4-0 win against Pohang.

While Ulsan’s attack is getting much of the publicity, credit must also go to the defence, which has conceded just four goals (tied for the fewest with champions Jeonbuk). They completely shut down Pohang, the second leading scorers in the league, and limited them to just one shot on target away from home.

History

The historical head-to-head record between FC Seoul and Ulsan Hyundai has been close. The two sides have met 145 times overall, and Ulsan have the 57-47 edge over Seoul in wins, with 46 draws.

However, Ulsan have had the upper hand in recent years. Last season, they went unbeaten in four meetings with FC Seoul, with three wins and a draw.

In total, Ulsan have gone unbeaten in their last seven games (five wins, two draws) against FC Seoul, whose last win against Ulsan came in 2017.

Betting Tip

	FC Seoul vs Ulsan Hyundai	Over 2.50 Goals @ 1.90
	June 20, 18:00 (GMT+8)

As expected, the SBOBET odds are heavily in Ulsan’s favour. The Horangi are priced at 1.75 to pick up their fourth win on the bounce. FC Seoul are 4.40 to win at home, while a draw is 3.50.

Turn your attention to the over-under market, though, particularly the over. With the most prolific attack in the league (Ulsan ) facing the leakiest defence (Seoul), this match is almost guaranteed a few goals.

After seeing Seoul give up four to Jeonbuk and six to Daegu, Ulsan should fancy their chances of reaching at least three goals by themselves. And with the form Junior Negrao is in, it would be a surprise if they didn’t.