High Stakes in K League 1: Gangwon FC and Gimcheon Sangmu Fight for Title Dreams | OneFootball

This Sunday sees the meeting of second vs. third in K League 1, as the division’s two surprise packages, Gangwon FC and Gimcheon Sangmu, both look to keep their title hopes alive. With just one point separating the sides, it’s sure to be a close encounter as both teams look to keep in touch with Ulsan HD at the summit of the table.

Recent Form

After some poor form throughout the month of September, during which they failed to pick up a win in any of their four games, Gangwon has seemingly turned things around over the last few weeks with back-to-back wins in their previous two games. The first of these was a late win against a ten-man Incheon United; a late double from Lee Sang-heon sealing a 3-1 victory. In their last outing, a towering header from Kim Young-bin just 48 seconds after the restart saw them claim a priceless 1-0 win against Seoul FC. It was a solid defensive performance from Gangwon, something that has perhaps not been as common as they would like this season; their 50 goals conceded is the joint third-worst in the division. This is in stark contrast to their attacking play, as they currently lead the charts in the number of goals scored.

Gimcheon comes into this one off the back of a hard-fought 0-0 draw last weekend against current leaders Ulsan. It was a tightly contested affair, with both sides having chances to win it, although Gimcheon had the better of these, with Seo Min-woo seeing his deflected effort hit the bar midway through the first half, and then Kim Gyeong-joon seeing his effort cleared off the line by Gustav Ludwigson right on the stroke of halftime. While they were desperate for a win to close the gap from five points down to three, a draw is not an entirely disastrous result, as it still just about leaves them within catching distance. Before last weekend’s stalemate, Gimcheon’s previous game had also been against Ulsan, losing 2-1 on the road—a result that brought an end to a three-game winning streak. Unlike their opponents, Gimcheon’s success has been built on a sturdy defense, and they currently have the second-best defensive record in the division, with a paltry 37 goals conceded.

This Season’s Meetings

This will be the fourth meeting between the sides this season, with Gimcheon having won two and Gangwon one of the previous three. There was late drama in the first of these encounters back in late April, when Lee Jung-min bundled the ball over the line in the last minute following an error from Lee Gi-hyuk to seal a 1-0 win for Gimcheon. A hectic first half in the second encounter saw all five goals scored in the first half, as Gimcheon ran out 3-2 winners. In the last matchup in August, a double from Lee Sang-heon sealed all three points for Gangwon in a 2-1 win.

Key Players

While the attacking duo of Lee Dong-gyeong and Kim Dae-won have been getting a lot of plaudits this season, and rightly so, we cannot overlook the solid defence of Gimcheon, which has been one of the reasons for their success this season. Central defender Park Seung-wook has been solid in the heart of the backline this season and was even selected for the K League All-Stars game against Tottenham Hotspur back in July. Goalkeeper Kim Dong-heon is also a top player on his day, and he was in fine form in the 0-0 draw with Ulsan, making seven saves.

While Gangwon’s defense has been leaky at times this season, they have been ruthless in attack, and a lot of this is down to the excellent form of Lee Sang-heon. The striker has scored 12 goals already this season and has also contributed eight assists. Another player who is enjoying a great season is youngster Yang Min-hyeok, who has found the net 10 times and assisted seven times. He is, of course, coming to the end of his Gangwon career, as he has signed a contract with Tottenham Hotspur, which is set to commence in January 2025, so he is certainly looking to end his time in the K League on a high.

Both sides will know that anything less than a win will surely end their title hopes. Prediction: a 2-1 win for Gangwon in an end-to-end game.