Suwon Samsung Bluewings will be looking to bounce back from their derby defeat during the week as they host midtable Incheon United on Friday evening in Round 21 of the 2021 Hana 1Q K League 1 season. In-form Incheon should present a tough challenge for third-placed Suwon.
Recent Form
Starting with the hosts for Friday evenings game Suwon Bluewings, they lost on their return to league football earlier this week at the hands of city rivals Suwon FC 2-1. That game swung mainly due to the sending off of Han Suk-jong. Prior to that and the two month summer break Suwon had gone eight league games unbeaten and have progressed to the Quarter Finals of the Korean FA Cup.
Moving onto the visitors Incheon United, who unlike Suwon Bluewings returned to competitive football with a win in the Gyeongin Derby over struggling FC Seoul 1-0 a little over a week ago. Like Suwon however before the summer break Incheon were in-form and were unbeaten in four, although three of those games ended in draws.
Team News
Suwon Bluewings will be without Han Seok-jong following his sending off in the midweek game against Suwon FC. However, other than striker Kim Gun-hee, who missed the last match due to an unspecified injury, the Bluewings should have a pretty much full squad to choose from heading into the game on Friday.
Incheon have no players suspended, however regular first choose goalkeeper Lee Tae-hui is more than likely still an injury doubt. Otherwise Incheon, like Suwon, have a first squad to choose from.
Head-to-Head
Earlier this season Suwon Bluewings and Incheon United played out a goalless draw with both sides showcasing their defensive strengths. Last season Suwon won two of the three games, with Incheon claiming the spoils in the other.
Over the years Suwon Bluewings and Incheon United have clashed a respectable fifty-one times. However Incheon have struggled during these exchanges having only won seven times compared to Suwon's twenty-nine, with the other fifteen ending in draws. Also interesting to note that Suwon have a 75% win ratio against Incheon Untied when playing at home.
What to Watch
Quality in the final third
Looking firstly at Suwon Bluewings who like to score goals. They're currently only behind Jeonbuk Hyundai in the league for goals scored with thirty goals in twenty games. They also share the goals area, so you never know what might get on the score sheet week-by-week.
Defensively Suwon have also been strong this 2021 season having only conceded an average of a single goal a game. A mixture of youth and experience seems to be the secret with youngster Kim Tae-hwan linking well with more experienced faces Lee Ki-je and Jang Ho-ik.
Shifting over to the visitors Incheon United who have been impressive in the final third at times this season. They've relied on their foreign talent in the form of Mugoša, Negueba and Aguilar to both create and score the goals.
At the back for Incheon it has been experience all the way with twenty-nine year old Harrison Delbridge being the youngest of the regular defenders. The rest are over thirty, with evergreen Kim Kwang-suk proving that age is just a number at thirty-eight and still dominating out on the right wing.
Who to Watch
Both sides have a number of key players however Incheon United seem to struggle without record goal scorer Stefan Mugoša on the field. The Montenegrin international forward has only scored three times this season, however he's also been limited to only eight games. He has also scored all three of those goals in his last four appearances including one in his sides last outing against FC Seoul. So he'll be the main danger for Incheon in the final third this coming Friday against Suwon Bluewings.
Where to Watch
Fans in countries with K League overseas broadcasting rights can follow the game live on television. More information can be found
here.
Alternatively, the match is also available for FREE on
tv.kleague.com.
Tim Barnes
K League United Columnist
