Gangwon vs. Suwon Samsung Bluewings – K League 1, September 20, 2020

Gangwon has top six qualification in its own hands this weekend as it enters the round of fixtures in sixth – and gets ready for the visit of Suwon on Sunday.

The Bluewings have relegation worries, so will be doing the home side no favors here. With both sides needing to win the game, it could be one of the fixtures of the weekend.

BetOnline has more faith in Gangwon winning than Suwon this weekend – but there is not much in it. Those misgivings are fully justified as the home side has been more than inconsistent this season as it has lurched from winning streak to a string of defeats. The draw bet does look interesting but with so much pressure on this game, I think we will have an outright winner.

Gangwon can thank Lee Young-jae for the position it finds itself in on match day 22. With just seven minutes to go in the game with Busan last week, he popped up to score the winner and kept his side in that all-important sixth position. If Gangwon beats Suwon and FC Seoul doesn’t score around ten goals in its game with Daegu, the chance of an AFC Champions League spot is still alive.

That win against Busan was the first in three games and it had looked like Gangwon may be imploding at completely the wrong time of the season. There is still a lot to do though – and there are four other clubs still in with a chance of a top six place at the 22-game mark.

But after a terrible campaign, Suwon is not one of them. The Bluewings have regressed from last year’s disappointing season if anything – and will now have to concentrate on not being relegated as bottom-placed Incheon has caught up on its points total.

The final six games of the season will be huge for Suwon and the team really needs to up its game if it is not going to experience a humiliating drop into the second tier. With so much money behind the club, it would be a big shock for Suwon to go down. But with just one win in the last eight games it would hardly be surprising.

Gangwon can count itself lucky that it is Suwon that it faces on match day 22, as there are not that many sides that it would be favorite to beat. The odds reflect the uncertainty about a home win but also make the bet more attractive. Gangwon should win this – but it will be close.