After a mid-week win, Incheon United turn their attention to the visit of 2020 AFC Champions League winners Ulsan Hyundai. The Horangi make the trip north to Sungui Arena Park having drawn a blank in each of their last two matches. Can the Blue Black pick up back-to-back wins for the first time this season, or will Hong Myung-bo's Ulsan pick up a first win in three?
Recent Form
Incheon United picked up a first win in six on Wednesday night, earning a 3-1 victory away to Seongnam FC. Goals from Kim Hyun, Negueba and Elías Aguilar were enough to keep the Blue Black off the foot of the table. It was also Incheon's first away win of the season.
The Horangi make the trip north on the back of a 0-0 draw with league leaders Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. The stalemate means that Ulsan have drawn a blank in each of their last two matches, last finding the net in 90th minute of the 1-0 away win over Suwon FC in Round 9. So far in 2021, Ulsan have picked up six wins, three draws and two losses.
Team News
Incheon United were able to welcome Stefan Mugoša back to the fray in midweek. The Montenegrin international missed the start of the season through illness and had to wait until the FA Cup defeat to Anyang on April 14th for his first appearance of the new campaign. Mugoša came on as a substitute against Seongnam and is expected to make his first home league appearance this Sunday against Ulsan. Centre back Oh Ban-seok, however, missed the trip to Seongnam and is a doubt for the weekend.
For Ulsan, Kim Tae-hyeon is back from a one-match ban after being sent off away to Suwon FC. And Lee Chung-yong remains a doubt through injury, the former Bolton Wanderers and Crystal Palace winger hasn't featured since 16th March.
Head-to-Head
When the two teams met earlier in the campaign Ulsan emerged as 3-1 winners with goals from Yoon Bit-garam, Lee Dong-jun and former Incheon winger Kim In-sung. Last year, the two teams met just twice with the Horangi winning on both occasions. Incheon's last win against Ulsan dates back to 2018 when goals from Mugoša and Kim Bo-seop gave the Durumi a 3-2 victory, despite going a goal behind to Sergio Escudero.
In the last 10 meetings, Incheon have won just once against Ulsan, losing six and drawing three. Overall, there have been 15 meetings, Ulsan have 25 wins to Incheon's 13 and 13 draws.
What to Watch
Incheon's xGA vs Ulsan's xG
While Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors are the league's leading goal-scorers with 23, Ulsan have the best expected goals (xG) so far with 18.81. Individually, Lee Dong-jun sits second in the division in terms of xG with 3.83, Kim Min-jun is ninth at 2.83, while Kim In-sung is in 12th at 2.75 and Yoon Bit-garam 13th at 2.69. Three of the four scored against Incheon when the two sides met earlier in the season.
Incheon, meanwhile, have the worst expected goals against (xGA) record in the division so far this term with 23.45. The Durumi's actual goals against tally is 21 from 11 matches, an average of 1.9 goals per 90 minutes. Can Incheon keep Ulsan at bay, or will the Horangi be able to score for the first time in 180 minutes of football?
Who to Watch
Elías Aguilar - Incheon United
In terms of goal contributions, Costa Rican attacker Elías Aguilar has six with four goals and two assists - enough to sit third in the division. This tally is actually slightly higher than his expected goals and assists of 5.61, the best in K League 1 so far this season. Aguilar scored last time out, converting a spot kick to seal the away win over Seongnam FC.
Kim In-sung - Ulsan Hyundai
Although predominantly a winger, no player in K League 1 has had more touches in the box per 90 minutes than Kim In-sung. Kim is also Ulsan's joint leading scorer with four goals and has already matched his total from 2020. The Korean international has a decent record against Incheon, the club he played for in 2015, having scored twice against the Blue Black in 2019 and once in 2017.
Where to Watch
Kick off is at 2 PM KST and 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.
