Jeonbuk, on the other hand, suffered two defeats in the space of three days last week. The Green Warriors were dealt a late blow at home to Gangwon with Yang Hyun-jun dinking the ball over goalkeeper Kim Jeong-hoon deep into time added on. This followed a 2-1 home defeat to newly-promoted Daejeon Hana Citizen. Jeonbuk now sit 10th in the table, level on points with Gangwon and 15 behind Ulsan.
Match Information
Venue: Seoul World Cup Stadium
Date: Friday 5th May 2023, 14:00 KST
Competition: 2023 Hana 1Q K League 1
Form: FC Seoul WDWLW Jeonbuk WLWLL
Team News
FC Seoul will be hoping that Osmar has recovered from injury in time to face Jeonbuk. Same too with Hwang Ui-jo as the pair has missed Seoul's last two matches. Meanwhile, Stanislav Iljutcenko will be hoping to be recalled for the visit of his former employers having only left Jeonbuk last summer.
Jeonbuk, meanwhile, will be without captain and key centre back Hong Jeong-ho through suspension following his sending off for dissent in the 1-0 loss to Gangwon. Right back Kim Moon-hwan is also suspended but will miss two games after his straight red. Jeonbuk also have one or two injury worries with Song Min-kyu stretchered off at the weekend.
Head-to-Head
FC Seoul will take to the field on Friday looking for a first win over Jeonbuk since July 2017, 18 league meetings ago and 19 in all competitions. On a rainy July evening, Park Chu-young struck late to secure the points after Kim Shin-wook's penalty just after half time had cancelled out Yoon Seung-won's 36th-minute opener.
There have been 98 previous K League meetings between FC Seoul and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Jeonbuk have managed 38 wins to Seoul's 33 and 27 draws. Over the last 10, it's seven Jeonbuk wins and three draws.
Two of those draws came last season, the first in a 1-1 stalemate on Children's Day 2022 with Park Dong-jin finding a late equaliser to cancel out Ryu Jae-moon's goal three minutes after the hour mark. The last league meeting at Seoul World Cup Stadium ended in a 1-0 Jeonbuk win, while the most recent was in the FA Cup Final first leg which ended in a 2-2 draw.
Who to Watch
Na Sang-ho, FC Seoul
Na Sang-ho is in the form of his life, leading K League 1's goal charts with seven for the campaign. Six of those seven goals have come in Na's last five matches. The former Gwangju and Seongnam forward has spent much of the current campaign at right wing with Lim Sang-hyub on the left. This enables him to cut inside onto his favoured left foot. Na has landed eight shots on target from a total of 19, giving him a shooting accuracy rate of 42%. He's also made 12 key passes which is enough for him to sit in the top seven in the league in this regard. Na has only scored one goal against Jeonbuk for FC Seoul, though, which came a 3-2 defeat in August 2021.
Han Kyo-won, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Jeonbuk boss Kim Sang-sik will be looking to his more experienced players to guide the team out of the bottom three and up the table. Winger Han Kyo-won has been one of Jeonbuk's most consistent performers for a number of years. He got off the mark in the Round 8 win over Jeju United, adding a second goal of the afternoon for the Green Warriors to put the gloss on an important away victory. So far this term, Han has a shooting accuracy rate of 60%, with most of his shots coming from in the area, and has provided two key passes. The 32-year-old has a good record against FC Seoul, too, having scored nine and assisted three in 26 matches overall, winning 12 and losing just four.
Fans in countries with K League overseas broadcasting rights can follow the game with English commentary on television. Check local listings for more information.
Alternatively, the match is also available for FREE on
TV.KLeague.com.
