South Korean K League Matchday 2 Odds & Picks

• South Korea’s K League season continues with its second round of matches this weekend
• Will either of the promoted sides be able to get their first wins?
• Read on for the odds and best bets for Matchday 2 below

The South Korean K League season kicked off last week with current champions Jeonbuk Motors listed as the favorites to once again win the title.

And while this weekend will no doubt be highlighted by the German Bundesliga’s return, bettors are slowly beginning to have more options to get down as other leagues around the world return to play. As such, we take a look at the weekend card for Matchday 2 in South Korea and isolate a few best bets.

K League Matchday 2 Odds

Odds taken May 14

Pick 1: Busan IPark vs Jeonbuk Motors

Winners in each of the past three seasons, Jeonbuk Motors, or Jeonbuk Hyundai depending on which book you use, got their campaign off to a winning start last weekend, but just barely.

Jeonbuk were home to FA Cup winners Suwon Bluewings and were made to work til the final moments to claim all three points. Despite holding 60-percent possession and an advantage in corners (7-0), attempts (16-5) and shots on target (8-4) in the match, the game’s lone goal came at the 86′ minute mark from 41-year-old striker Lee Dong-gook. A Suwon red card in the 77′ minute didn’t help matters as Jeonbuk continued to apply the pressure.

Their opponents on Saturday morning at 6:00 am EST, Busan IPark, are new to the top flight, having earned promotion from K-League 2 last season. Their return was not a kind one last week as they fell 2-0 on the road to last year’s fourth-place team, the Pohang Steelers.

FT

Lee Dong-gook, the 41-year-old substitute, is the hero thanks to his late goal.

No handshakes at the whistle… a few victorious fist-bumps.

Jeonbuk Motors 1-0 Suwon Bluewings

📱💻 https://t.co/M7co6t0xjZ
📺 @BBCiPlayer pic.twitter.com/yKGO97WDgd

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) May 8, 2020

Despite holding early possession, Pohang broke through early with a headed goal in the 24′ minute from Stanislav Iljutcenko. They would add another by penalty in the 71′ from Aleksandar Palocevic.

More goals could have easily come as both sides had chances, but there was plenty of rust on both sides. For Busan, they started six new players and four on defense.

These teams haven’t met since 2015 when IPark was last in the top division, but the history does not favor the underdogs in this one. Jeonbuk won all three matches in 2015 and have now won nine of the past ten meetings, drawing the other. Busan has won just once in the past 16 meetings across all competitions.

While Jeonbuk are easily odds-on road favorites here, I still think the price offers some value. I’ll bet the team that has five titles in six seasons against a newly-promoted side still working in new additions every day of the week.

Pick: Jeonbuk win (-155)

Pick 2: FC Seoul vs Gwangju FC

At 6:00 am EST Sunday morning, another promoted side, Gwangju FC, takes on the home side FC Seoul.

Seoul, winners of the K-League 1 on six occasions, finished third last season at 15-11-12 (WDL). That said, they finished the season in a poor run of form, winless in five and just one win in their final nine. 2020 saw them get off to a winning start with two wins in the AFC Champions Leauge, however, their losing ways in the league continued last week in a 3-1 defeat to sixth-place side Gangwon.

Seoul did take the early lead before half at the 36′ minute mark, but Gangwon fired back with three second-half goals for the win. The match was tied 1-1 though until two late goals in the 85′ and 86′ minutes. Gangwon held the advantage in possession (59-percent), attempts (8-5) and shots on target (5-2).

As disappointing as that result would have been for Seoul, Gwangju were busy with a loss of their own, at home, 2-0, to ninth-place side Seongnam. The Magpies had low expectations for this season but were quick out of the gates in scoring at the 5′ and 12′ minute marks against Gwangju, which would prove to be more than enough for their season’s first win. Gwangju did create plenty of chances though, with a shot going just wide, a one-on-one miss and another hitting the bar, to name a few.

These teams last met in 2017, with Seoul winning 2-1 and 4-1 and Gwangju winning once 3-2. The overall history strongly favors Seoul as their record vs Gwangju in the past 13 is 11-1-1. There’s another strong trend in those meetings and that is goals. Much like their results in 2017, all of those past 13 have seen both teams scoring. In 11 of the matches OVER 2.5 goals also would’ve cashed.

Take your pick. Seoul should win this one (+105). But following the goals trend and backing ‘Both teams to score’ is another way to bet this match. Money has come in on both of these bets this week as both were paying -125 earlier and those odds have now adjusted.

Pick: Both teams to score (-140)

Pick 3: Sangju Sangmu Phoenix vs Gangwon FC

The first match of the weekend takes place on Saturday, May 16 at 1:00 am EST.

We’ve already discussed Gangwon’s start to the year above, a 3-1 win over Seoul.

Always liked Jae-wan, proper Gangwon FC him, cut him open and he bleeds orange and green https://t.co/QE0Lum0LLN

— Sam Mays (@_SammayS) May 12, 2020

Last year’s seventh-place side Sangju, were Matchday 1’s biggest losers, a 4-0 defeat to second-place Ulsan who ran rampant over them. I stayed up to watch the match as I had a bet on Ulsan and it didn’t take long for me to feel comfortable that my bet would cash.

Ulsan scored early just eight minutes in and added a second through a penalty in first-half stoppage time. They would score a third at the 54′ minute mark and then a fourth at the 77′. All told, four of their five shots on target found the back of the net.

In other @KLeague weekly awards, Park Yongji of Daejeon won K League 2 POTW. Gangwon FC and Bucheon FC were named K League 1 and 2 TOTW, respectively. Check out the best XIs as well.#KLeague pic.twitter.com/TfovK82tnr

— Tavern of the Taegeuk Warriors (@taegeuktavern) May 13, 2020

Sangju are an interesting story this season. They are a military team that is relocating next season and thus have been automatically relegated. Much of their roster of loanees is also completing military service. They lost 17 players from last season. On top of that, several players were injured (not seriously) in a car accident last week. They will be missing some more players this week due to the accident and possibly for a few more weeks going forward.

The fact you can get plus-money on Gangwon FC looks like the smart play here. Bets are slowly coming in on them as the odds are now +115 compared to +125 earlier this week.

Pick: Gangwon FC (+115)