Back from the international break K League 2 heads into Round 17. With fourth and 12th separated by just six points, and fourth all the way down to ninth all on the same points, the table could look a lot different come the end of this weekend's action.
Match of the Round
Jeonnam Dragons (2nd) vs. Bucheon FC 1995 (8th) - Sat. 15th June, 19:00
Riding high in second place, Jeonnam Dragons head into Saturday's visit of Bucheon FC 1995 on the back of a six-match unbeaten run with five wins. The first of those wins was against Bucheon courtesy of late goals from Ha Nam and Valdivia. A repeat of that could take Lee Jang-gwan's men top of the table. Bucheon, meanwhile, make the long trip south on the back of a four-match unbeaten run, a run that has put the Hermes level on points with Busan IPark in the playoff places. There's a little bit of recent history in this fixture, too, with Bucheon having beaten Jeonnam to book a place in last season's playoffs; a 4-1 win ended any Jeonnam hopes of a spot in the top five. The first meeting of 2023 ended in a 5-2 Bucheon win so Jeonnam will be itching to put the record straight.
Bucheon will want to make sure they don't go behind to Jeonnam as the Dragons have amassed 25 points from winning positions this season, the joint-most in the division having won eight and draw one in nine. Bucheon, too, have gone behind five times this season, drawing once and losing four times. What Bucheon do have in their arsenal, though, is a dangerous attacker in Jucie Lupeta who possesses the sixth-highest xG of 4.92, more than any Jeonnam player. Lupeta scored twice last time out as Bucheon earned a resounding 3-0 win over Chungnam Asan, his first K League brace. On target for Jeonnam last time out was Kim Jong-min who took his tally for the season to nine, making him the division's second-top scorer.
Team of the Round
Seongnam FC (vs. FC Anyang, Sat. 15th June - 19:30)
A last-gasp Guk Kwan-woo goal away to Ansan Greeners last time out earned Seongnam FC all three points and ended a run of four straight losses. It was Guk's first goal as a professional while the confidence-boosting assist from Shin Jae-won was his first of the campaign. The win keeps Seongnam within four points of the playoffs, despite sitting in 11th place in the table. What stands between the Magpies and back-to-back victories for just the second time this season is the visit of league leaders FC Anyang. Seongnam will be looking to their top scorer Fernando Ruiz who'll be aiming to make the most of the sheer number of crosses his teammates dispatch as the Magpies rank first for total crosses. As a team, Seongnam are joint third for shooting accuracy at 41% and have made the most passes per defensive action against with 14.29. It was Anyang who earned the points when the two teams met earlier in the campaign, though. In fact, Seongnam are looking for their first win over the Violets since July 2018, six meetings ago.
Player of the Round
Luis Mina, Gimpo FC (vs. Ansan Greeners, Sun. 16th June - 19:00)
Gimpo FC's Colombian star Luis Mina may not have reached the heights he did last season, his goals this term have proven to be very important. His first of the campaign, in the Round 3 win over Busan, was the difference between the two teams, while an equaliser away to Seoul E-Land in Round 5 earned his team a valuable point, and his most recent proved to be the winner in Gimpo's 2-1 away victory over Ansan Greeners. These goals have given Gimpo five extra points, the difference between sitting fourth or 11th. Up next for Luis Mina and Gimpo is Ansan Greeners. Including the match-winner against the Green Wolves just a few weeks ago, Mina has managed three goals in four appearances against Ansan.
K League 2 Table
K League 2 Round 17 Fixtures
Saturday 15th June
#JDFCvBUC: Jeonnam Dragons (2nd) vs. Bucheon FC 1995 (8th) - 19:00
#GYEvSSB: Gyeongnam FC (12th) vs. Suwon Samsung Bluewings (6th) - 19:00
#SFCvANY: Seongnam FC (11th) vs. FC Anyang (1st) - 19:30
Sunday 16th June
#CAFCvBUS: Chungnam Asan (7th) vs. Busan IPark (5th) - 19:00
#GFCvANS: Gimpo FC (4th) vs. Ansan Greeners (13th) - 19:00
#CHFCvCCFC: Chungbuk Cheongju (9th) vs. Cheonan City (10th) - 19:00
No game: Seoul E-Land
