Incheon United vs Daejeon Hana Citizen

The stakes are at an all-time high as Incheon United and Daejeon Hana Citizen lock horns in a ‘make or break’ K League 1 contest at the Sungui Arena Park.

Incheon United pulled off a massive upset in midweek K League 1 action, securing an unexpected 2-1 triumph at pacesetters Ulsan Hyundai to make it two wins in their last three league matches (D1). Incheon’s recent resurgence has reignited their playoff bid, moving them within a four-point distance from 6th-placed Gwangju. They must build on that momentum, although an underwhelming 18% win ratio in their opening 11 top-flight home games (2/11) cannot inspire much confidence. However, Jo Sung-hwan’s team eked out a narrow 1-0 home triumph over Gangwon last time out, arresting an abysmal eight-game winless league run at the Sungui Arena Park (D5, L3).

Meanwhile, visiting Daejeon fought back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to hold Jeonbuk Motors to an enthralling 2-2 home draw on Wednesday, living up to their reputation as ‘stalemate specialists.’ Indeed, Daejeon’s last five league fixtures have ended level, with only Gangwon (10) drawing more K League 1 games than Lee Min-sung’s side this term (9). Against this backdrop, just one of Daejeon’s last nine top-flight meetings with Incheon have finished without a winner, though they’ve found themselves on the receiving end on seven occasions (W1, L7). But the visitors will be confident about defying their disappointing H2H record after only losing once on their last seven league travels (W2, D4).