The Pohang Steelers will entertain league leaders Ulsan at the Steelyard Stadium in their upcoming K League 1 fixture on Saturday.
The home team are trailing their east coast rivals by 13 points in the standings and are without a win in their last two league games. Their winless run continued in the Korean FA Cup on Wednesday as they suffered a 3-2 defeat against Daegu FC in their quarter-final fixture.
Ulsan have an eight-point lead at the top of the standings and played out a goalless draw against Seongnam in their previous league outing. They were in action in the Korean FA Cup on Thursday and overcame Bucheon FC 6-5 on penalties after the game ended in a 1-1 draw during regular time.
Pohang Steelers vs Ulsan Head-to-Head
This will be the 172nd edition of the East Coast Derby. The Pohang Steelers have a slight advantage in this fixture, with 62 wins to their name. Ulsan are not far behind with 58 wins to their name, while the spoils have been shared 51 times in this fixture.
They last met at the Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium in league action in March, with the-then hosts securing a 2-0 win in the reverse fixture.
Pohang Steelers form guide (all competitions): L-D-L-W-D
Ulsan form guide (all competitions): W-D-W-L-W
Pohang Steelers vs Ulsan Team News
Pohang Steelers
Lee Seung-mo will serve a one-match ban after picking up the fifth yellow card of the campaign in the previous outing. Kwang-hyeok Lee's involvement in the game remains doubtful as he has not played for the club since the international break.
Injury: None.
Doubtful: Kwang-hyeok Lee.
Suspension: Lee Seung-mo.
Unavailable: None.
Ulsan
Won Du-jae is in line to mark his return from an injury in this match, while Leonardo also returns from a suspension here.
Injury: None.
Doubtful: Won Du-jae.
Suspension: None.
Unavailable: None.
Pohang Steelers vs Ulsan Predicted XIs
Pohang Steelers (4-2-3-1): Yun Pyeong-Guk (GK); Shin Kwang-Hoon, Seung-Wook Park, Alex Grant, Sim Sang-min; Lee Soo-Bin, Sin Jin-Ho; Wanderson, Lee Seung-Mo, Im Sang-Hyeob; Moses Ogbu
Ulsan (4-2-3-1): Jo Hyeon-woo (GK); Kim Tae Hwan, Lim Jong Eun, Kim Young-Gwon, Seol Young-Woo; Park Yong-woo, Koh Myeong-Jin; Gi-Yun Choi, Vako Qazaishvili, Lee Chung-Yong; Leonardo
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Pohang Steelers vs Ulsan Prediction
Ulsan have the best attacking (28 goals scored) and defensive record (14 goals conceded) in the league and are the favorites against the hosts, who are without a win in their last three games across all competitions.
The Pohang Steelers have not kept a clean sheet in their last six games, so the odds of a shutout in this game do not look good. Given Ulsan's superior form in league fixtures, we are backing them to eke out a narrow win in this fixture.
Prediction: Pohang Steelers 1-2 Ulsan