Seongnam vs. Busan IPark – K League 1, October 31, 2020

Most of the attention will be on Incheon United this Saturday. But depending on the result in the Blue Black’s game, this could be the relegation decider in K League 1.

Thanks to Suwon’s mini-revival, either of these two clubs could still fall down into K League 2. This should be a nervy affair.

The seriousness of this fixture has forced BetOnline to price it fairly evenly, as both clubs look to avoid the defeat that could see it drop down to the second tier. A draw would be enough for Busan IPark anyway, so that wager could be the one to go for on Saturday.

Seongnam has been just about the poorest team in the bottom half of the table since the split and has only given itself a bit more of a chance with a win against Suwon last weekend. That 2-1 victory kept the Magpies off of the bottom of the table – but there is still a lot to do on Saturday.

If Seongnam could score a few goals it would be a start. That has been a particular problem all season and it has handed Busan IPark the advantage going into this one. Manager Kim Nam-il will need to make sure his players don’t take this game too lightly and go for the win that would ensure survival.

Busan IPark also could win to stay up. But the two extra goals the Royals have scored this season means that even just a draw would be enough to stay up. After coming up last year the main priority would have been remaining competitive until the final day of the season – and that is just about the case here.

But with 15 minutes to go in its game with Incheon last week, it had looked as though Busan IPark had already done enough to make this weekend’s fixture far less stressful. But two quick goals from Incheon handed the Blue Black some hope and gave us a three-way scrap to avoid the drop.

With so much riding on this game, I think that this could be another one that ends in a nervy draw on Saturday. That would be enough for Busan IPark to celebrate staying up – and leave Seongnam waiting to hear how Incheon United has got on away at FC Seoul. The excitement of the 2020 K League 1 season could go down to the very last seconds of the campaign.