Incheon United vs Gangwon

A battle in the K League 1 lower reaches heats up as Incheon United and Gangwon go head-to-head at the Sungui Arena Park.

Incheon United progressed into the FA Cup semi-finals with a pulsating 3-2 home victory over Suwon Bluewings on Wednesday, arresting a dismal three-game winless run (D2, L1). However, the hosts haven’t won any of their last eight top-flight home outings (D5, L3). Overall, they’ve only managed one triumph across ten home league matches in 2023 (D, L3), making them one of only three K League 1 sides yet to hit a 10-point landmark at home (9). A lack of firepower is one of the main reasons behind Incheon’s poor home form, with Jo Sung-hwan’s team averaging a meager 0.8 goals per home league game thus far. Sung-hwan will be desperate for his troops to improve their performances after halftime after overseeing a league joint-low tally of four second-half goals on home turf this term.

On the other hand, visiting Gangwon dropped a 1-0 halftime lead in a gut-wrenching 2-1 FA Cup loss to Pohang Steelers in midweek, exiting the competition in the quarter-finals. It won’t be easy to recover from another mental blow as the visitors come into this round winless in their last six competitive matches (D2, L4), conceding precisely twice on four occasions. Moreover, since defying the odds to beat Jeonbuk Motors 1-0 in April, ‘Gangwon Kodiaks’ have gone winless on their last five league travels (D2, L3), failing to get on the scoresheet three times in this period. Considering their growing scoring woes, it’s unsurprising they’ve failed to win any of their five away league matches after conceding the opening goal this term (D1, L4).