This week’s marquee matchup sees Gimcheon Sangmu host FC Seoul. The military side were in fine form before the international break, beating Pohang Steelers 3-0 to move up to second place. There, Chung Jung-yong’s men created an xG of 2.13 from 15 shots, made 12 high recoveries, 39 accurate passes to the final third, and won 52 of their 70 defensive duels in a consistently solid performance. And, regardless of this week’s result, Gimcheon have guaranteed a record-high K League 1 finish for themselves, given they are unable to finish lower than third.

As for FC Seoul, they showed their mettle with an impressive 1-1 draw against Ulsan HD last time out, meaning they are unbeaten in three games (one win, two draws). The capital city side had most of the momentum against the champions too, creating an xG of 2.69 from 20 shots, conceding an xGA of just 0.78, making 15 high recoveries, 46 interceptions, and 50 accurate progressive passes. Now in a strong position to secure a top-four finish, Seoul will want to end the 2024 season with one final victory.

This season, Seoul have had the advantage over Gimcheon in this fixture, winning two of the three meetings, and drawing the other. This includes a 5-1 victory for the capital city side back in Round 5, though the only clash at the Gimcheon Sports Complex in 2024 finished 0-0. The match has been picked for English commentary on TV.KLeague.com.

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Returning to winning ways in emphatic fashion, Suwon FC will want to build on their 4-0 victory against Gangwon FC by making a statement when up against the reigning champions Ulsan HD. In that aforementioned 4-0 before the break, Kim Eun-jung’s men clinically outscored their xG of 1.65 from 15 shots, made 14 high recoveries, 36 interceptions, 55 accurate progressive passes, 34 accurate passes to the final third, limited their opposition to just three shots on target, and won 33 of their 59 defensive duels. As such, Suwon still technically have a chance of a top-four finish, but would need to win this weekend, and hope for favourable results elsewhere.

For the hosts of this clash, Ulsan, Saturday is all about continuing their strong domestic form. Unbeaten in 10 league matches (seven wins, three draws), the Horangi also rank first in the division for metrics like xG creation (56.69), touches in the opposition box (17.81 per 90), key passes (3.3 per 90), and PPDA against (14.74 passes per opposition defensive action). However, Ulsan haven’t quite had the better of Suwon this season, with both teams holding a win over the other in 2024, either side of a 1-1 draw. The match has been picked for English commentary on TV.KLeague.com.

As Gangwon hope to bounce back from consecutive defeats, they’ll look towards consistent performers such as Lee Gi-hyuk to help them. Whether playing at centre-back or left-back, the 24-year-old has noticeably shown a lot of quality in the buildup phase of play over the course of his campaign, and saw his form rewarded recently with a call-up to the South Korea men’s national team squad. Per 90, Lee Gi-hyuk averages 5.47 interceptions, 11.12 recoveries, 1.7 progressive runs, 6.19 passes to the final third, 1.09 passes to the penalty area, 0.58 shot assists, and 21.97 forward passes.

Up next for Gangwon is Pohang Steelers, who are yet to win in Final A action (two draws, two losses). Against Gimcheon, the Steelers created an xG of 0.72 from 10 shots, controlled possession with 60% of the ball, but will want to solidify a defence that leaked three goals from an xGA tally of 2.13. Nevertheless, Pohang do tend to have the advantage in this fixture, having won all three of the meetings so far this year, which in turn keeps them unbeaten against Gangwon since September 2021 (eight wins, four draws).