Suwon Samsung Bluewings vs. Gangwon FC Betting Preview – K League 1, June 13

The poor start to the season continued for the Bluewings last week, and now this game with Gangwon looks even harder for one of the more successful clubs in the country, albeit one that has won little recently aside from the FA Cup last year.

Gangwon has done little in its short history but is looking to improve on last season’s top six finish and has already beaten Jeonbuk this year. Below, I cover the odds, as well as provide my Suwon Samsung Bluewings vs. Gangwon FC prediction and betting pick.

BetOnline has priced this fixture closely but makes the Bluewings favorite to win at home. I am more inclined to look at the odds for a draw or even a Gangwon victory as I think the visiting side is the more accomplished and is much higher in the league at the current time.

There was hope that Suwon Bluewings would put last season’s disappointment behind it and become a major player in K League 1 again this year. But the campaign has carried on where the last one finished. Just one win in the first five games — against a woeful Incheon United team — is all manager Lee Lim-saeng has to show for his efforts so far.

The good news is that the Bluewings have faced some of the better teams in the league already. But that does mean that it needs to beat the weaker sides, as well as clubs like Gangwon, who is looking to push into the top tier. If Suwon is to get anything from this, then it will need to work out how to find the net, as it has only scored a paltry three goals in the opening five games.

Gangwon, for its part, will not allow Suwon Bluewings an easy run here, though. The well-deserved win against Jeonbuk showed the league that it meant business after a mixed start, and the victory over Incheon United last weekend made it two from two.

More goals would be welcomed by manager Kim Byung-soo, but with Ulsan, Pohang, and Daegu coming up after this one, three points will be most important for Gangwon to stay in the hunt this early on in the season. Striker Ko Moo-yeol, signed from Jeonbuk at the start of the year, has scored in each of the last three games and will be the main threat on that front once again.

I think it is a mistake on BetOnline’s part to make the home side the favorite here, so am looking at Gangwon to pick up another three points and prove that it can compete with the top teams in K League 1. I don’t class the Bluewings in that group at the moment, so an away win seems on the cards on Saturday.