National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Pohang Steelers or Seongnam that keep their silverware dream alive.
It’s busy days for these teams as both were in action only a few days ago. There’s no rest for the wicked, or in this case; no rest for Pohang Steelers and Seongnam.
Pohang Steelers form and stats
Last season their Korean Cup adventure ended in the quarter-finals.Pohang Steelers have played 6 K-League Classic games at their own stadium so far this season, resulting in 3-2-1 (wins-draws-losses).
The Pohang Steelers fans enjoyed the previous game, watching their team host Incheon United and win 2-0. Jeong (midfield was the top team player in that game with a rating of 9.41/10. Jeong scored two goals, hit three key passes and dribled past the opponent 1 of 1 times.
Before that game, the home loss against Jeonbuk Motors with the scoreline 0-1.The hosts are modest favourites in this match, with the bookmakers estimating the chance of a home win at about 50% +- five percent. It's interesting to look at how Steelers have performed under similar circumstances, so here are some numbers: When modest favourites like this (we found 16 games) they have won 7 times, drawn 5 and lost 4.
The manager Kim will start preparations for the next game as soon this is finished, as the hosts are going to Daegu in only four days.
Pohang Steelers has scored 7 league goals at home this season, in 6 matches. Pohang Steelers are not conceding a lot of goals here at Steelyard Stadium in the league, averaging less than one per game. The total is 3 from 6 matches.
Seongnam form and stats
Seongnam's mission in Korean Cup last season failed in the 8th finals.Seongnam have only collected 6 points from their away games in the K-League Classic, after 2-0-4 (6 played).
It's the second away game in a row for Seongnam, but there's smiles all around after the 1-0 victory versus Seoul last time out. Seongnam goalie Kim was high and low in the Seoul game, contributing six saves towards the victory. Kim was the team player of the game with the player rating of 8.72. The agile goalkeeper Kim topped it up with a clean sheet.
Preceding that match was the 2-2 draw at home vs Suwon.Seongnam are the outsiders in this one, but not by much. Their performance in similar games (being the away team and moderate outsiders) is 1 win, 4 draws and 7 defeats. From a total of 12 matches.
The schedule is very tough for Seongnam now as they have to travel again shortly after this match. A K-League Classic game at Incheon United is waiting in only four days.
In the opposite end, Seongnam have conceded 10 goals in their away games.
Head 2 Head
Head-2-head stats last ten meetings: six - zero - four (Steelers wins - draws - Seongnam wins). As for goals, three matches ended with three or more goals (over 2,5), seven had two or less.Top Goalscorers
  Y. Heo 5 goals | J. Jeong 3 goals |  S. Lim 3 goals |
Pohang Steelers missing players
Seongnam missing players
| Pohang Steelers | Seongnam | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 11 | Played | P | 11 | 25 | ||
| 10 | 5 | Won | W | 3 | 8 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Drew | D | 0 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 4 | Lost | L | 8 | 13 | ||
| 34 | 16 | Scored | S | 10 | 23 | ||
| 22 | 8 | Conceded | C | 20 | 38 | ||
| 96% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 96% | ||
| 68% | 73% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 64% | 64% | ||
| 32% | 36% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 55% | 48% | ||
| 16% | 9% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 27% | 24% | ||
| 12% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 9% | 4% | ||
| 36% | 36% | BTTS | BTTS | 45% | 40% | ||
| 40% | 45% | Clean Sheets | C S | 18% | 28% | ||
| 28% | 18% | Failed to Score | F T | 36% | 36% | ||
| 4.8 | 5.1 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4.7 | 4.4 | ||
| 4.1 | 4 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.8 | 4.4 | ||
| 2.3 | 2.1 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.1 | 2.1 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 3 | ||
| 10.9 | 12.2 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 8.3 | 8.1 | ||
| 4.9 | 5.1 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 2.8 | 3.2 | ||
| 28% | 29% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 32% | 29% | ||
| 8.7 | 8.2 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 10.8 | 9.9 | ||
| 3.2 | 2.8 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 5 | 4.1 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Ulsan | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 14 | 33 |
| 2 | Jeonbuk Motors | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 25 |
| 3 | Jeju United | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 23 |
| 4 | Pohang Steelers | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 22 |
| 5 | Incheon United | 14 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 16 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 21 |
| 6 | Daegu | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 17 |
| 7 | Seoul | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 17 |
| 8 | Suwon Bluewings | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | -4 | 17 |
| 9 | Sangju Sangmu | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 11 | -1 | 16 |
| 10 | Gangwon | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 18 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 9 | -5 | 14 |
| 11 | Suwon | 14 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 19 | 26 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 11 | -7 | 12 |
| 12 | Seongnam | 14 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 26 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 10 | -15 | 9 |
