Ulsan Hyundai vs Incheon United
Ulsan Hyundai are unbeaten no more. The Tigers suffered their first defeat of the K-League season at the hands of title rivals Jeonbuk Motors last week, which has put them four points behind the defending champions.
However, Ulsan couldn’t have asked for a better match to help them bounce back as they host bottom-club Incheon United.
The Mariners have had a miserable campaign thus far. They’re the only side in the league still without a win and have lost seven games on the bounce, so it comes as no surprise that the K-League 2020 betting odds have the Tigers as heavy favourites.
Talking Points
Ulsan eager to bounce back
Ulsan’s unbeaten start to the season — as well as their four-game winning streak — finally came to an end as their lost their top-of-the-table clash against Jeonbuk last week.
The Tigers went down to 10 men after just half an hour as centre-back Kim Ki-Hee was shown a straight red card against his old side. That man advantage allowed Jeonbuk to dominate the rest of the match as they eventually won, 2-0.
Kim will now be suspended against Incheon, but his absence shouldn’t be that big of a blow against the least prolific attack in the league.
Ulsan have just sold centre-back Yun Young-sun to FC Seoul, but they still have a capable back-up in Dutch defender Dave Bulthuis. Bulthuis is set to slot into an Ulsan backline which had kept four consecutive clean sheets before their loss to Jeonbuk.
Moreover, Ulsan possess the most potent attack in the entire league. Despite failing to score against Jeonbuk, they still lead the league with 19 goal scored through nine rounds.
Junior Negrao, the K-League’s leading scorer with nine goals, will be eager to rediscover the back of the net after his four-match scoring run was snapped last week.
Ulsan’s already formidable forward line has also gotten Lee Chung-Young back after three games out due to injury. Lee came on for Negrao and played 20 minutes against Jeonbuk. Prior to his injury, Lee bagged a brace in Ulsan’s 4-0 win over Pohang Steelers.
Incheon United in turmoil
It’s been quite a disastrous season thus far for Incheon United. After drawing their first two matches of the season, their K-League 2020 results have seen them lose each of their last seven games while scoring just three goals during that time.
As a result of this horrific slide, Incheon coach Lim Wan-sup stepped down from his post shortly after their most recent loss to FC Seoul. Incheon had planned to bring back cancer-stricken former coach Yoo Sang-chul, but that move is now off.
To Incheon’s credit, they have not been getting smashed like other sides as their defence has at least made the opposition work hard.
Only one of their seven losses has been by more than one goal. That came in a 4-1 defeat to Pohang Steelers. They also lost just 1-0 in their match against defending champions Jeonbuk away from home.
However, it’s still not a good sign that they’ve failed to even score a goal in two matches against fellow strugglers Busan I’Park and FC Seoul, who both beat Incheon 1-0.
Incheon had just two shots on target against a struggling FC Seoul side and also missed a penalty at the stroke of half-time.
Stefan Mugosa, last year’s top scorer with 14 goals, has found the net just once thus far this season. He missed the match against Seoul with an ankle injury, while Ji Eon-Hak was also stretchered off.
If Mugosa still isn’t fit enough to return, it’s hard to see exactly where the goals will come from for Incheon.
History
Ulsan have won 13 out of their last 30 meetings against Incheon, who have seven wins, with 10 draws.
The Tigers went undefeated in their three matches last season, with two wins. Their last meeting of the season was one of the games of the year. Junior Negrao had put Ulsan 2-0 up, but Stefan Mugosa scored a hat-trick in the last 23 minutes — including two goals in the last two minutes — to give Incheon the lead.
However, Lee Keun-Ho struck in stoppage time as Ulsan were still able to salvage a point.
Betting Tip
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Ulsan Hyundai vs Incheon United | Ulsan Hyundai Asian Handicap -1.50 @ 2.20 |
| July 4, 17:00 (GMT+8) |
SBOBET odds have Ulsan priced as 1.39 favourites over Incheon United, who are massive 7.00 underdogs to pull off an upset away win. A draw is 4.60.
While Incheon have done well to avoid heavy defeats this season, they are not in a good place at the moment. Morale has to be low after the resignation of their coach, and they don’t pose much of a threat in attack without Mugosa.
That’s why it’s hard not to take Ulsan on the Asian handicap market. They simply have too much attacking firepower and should be itching to take all their frustrations of losing to Jeonbuk out on poor Incheon.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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