The South Korea K League begins this weekend having been previously postponed due to the coronavirus. All matches will be played behind closed doors and the first game to be played on Saturday is between Ulsan Hyundai and Sangju Sangmu.
This is an interesting match between the team which finished second last season on goal difference (Ulsan Hyundai) and a team which has already been confirmed for relegation this season (Sangju Sangmu).
Ulsan Hyundai were very unfortunate to miss out on the K League 1 title last season. They finished on exactly the same number of points as champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors but were pushed into second place due to having an inferior goal difference. Ulsan Hyundai will be hoping to go one better in this campaign and to do so they will want to get off to a winning start in this match.
They finished last season with two disappointing results at home as they were held to a 1-1 draw by the Champions but what followed was a poor and costly 4-1 loss at the hands of Pohang Steelers. Nonetheless, Ulsan Hyundai have a strong recent record in the South Korea K League 1 and trends show they are undefeated in 25 of their last 28 K League 1 games.
Ulsan Hyundai have scored at least one goal in their last 12 league games and both teams scored in 8 of their last 10 home league matches.
Sangju Sangmu are an interesting team in that they are made up of players who are currently on military service. As a result, they are not allowed to represent South Korea in continental competitions but they did manage to finish a respectable 7th in the table last season. However, they are going to be moving to a new venue for 2021 and because of that they will be relegated this season regardless of where they finish in the league.
Despite knowing they are going to be relegated, expect to see Sangju Sangmu put up a strong fight in this match and throughout the rest of the season. Trends show Sangju Sangmu have achieved 5 wins in their 7 most recent K League 1 games and have lost only one of their last 4 away matches.
Both teams have scored in 12 of their last 15 K League 1 games, including 5 of their last 7 on the road.
Looking ahead to the team news and Ulsan Hyundai will be hoping to hand a debut to experienced South Korea international midfielder Lee Chung-yong. He is set to join defender Kim Kee-hee in the starting XI, who moved from MLS club Seattle Sounders FC.
As many of 2019's squad finished their military service, the Sangju Sangmu team will look a little different this season. Forwards Park Yong-ji and Kim Gun-hee will be missed but defender Kwon Kyung-won and winger Moon Seon-min are good additions from Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.
Ulsan Hyundai come into this match as the favourites to win and will want to put the finish to last season behind them with a good result. The hosts could score a few goals but may be forced to pick the ball out of their own net as we see both teams score.