South Korean K League Round 5 Odds & Picks: Pohang and Ulsan Meet in East Coast Derby

• South Korea’s K League resumes this weekend with Matchday 5
• Donghaean Derby pits Pohang Steelers and Ulsan Hyundai together on Saturday morning
• Read on for the odds and best bets for Matchday 5 below

It’s the fifth round of K League fixtures this weekend in South Korea kicking off at 6:30 am EST Friday morning. The big boys are still leading the table with Jeonbok first at nine points, followed by Ulsan in second with eight, but also Seongnam tied in second. This week marks the first East Coast Derby of the season with Ulsan looking for revenge for their 4-1 defeat on the last day of the season to Pohang last year in one of the league’s oldest rivalries.

Betting on goals has not been a winning proposition thus far as UNDER 2.5 totals are 18-6 and UNDER 3.5 is 20-4. For the second week in a row, only 11 combined goals were scored in the six matches played last week.

Let’s take a look at the upcoming schedule and find a few best bets for this weekend’s card.

K League Matchday 5 Odds

Odds taken June 2

Pick 1: Busan IPark vs Sangju Sangmu

This one kicks off at 6:00 am EST on Saturday morning.

Busan are new to the division and haven’t been great, but also haven’t looked out of place. They suffered early defeats to Pohang and Jeonbuk but then drew 1-1 with title contenders Ulsan. Last week they drew once again, 0-0 at home to Suwon.

🎥 All Goals: #KLeague 1 Round 4

🧐 Which one was the best of the weekend? pic.twitter.com/5J44DctyLy

— K League (@kleague) June 2, 2020

Sangju started the year with a heavy 4-0 defeat to Ulsan but have righted the ship since with 2-0 and 1-0 wins over Gangwon and Gwangju, followed by last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Daegu.

These teams haven’t met since 2017 and previously in 2014, so there’s little to discuss with current head-to-head meetings.

STAT FOCUS

Of the 200+ players to have played in the #KLeague 1 so far this season, Busan's Park Jong-woo ranks:

⚽️1st – blocks per game (11.5)
⚽️2nd – successful tackles per game (2.5) pic.twitter.com/19lJ7uDsOS

— Busan IPark International Supporters (@IparkBusan) May 27, 2020

Sangju are not typically draw specialists as last week’s draw was their first in 11 matches in the K League. Six of their past eight though have finished with fewer than three goals.

Pick: Under 2.5 (-155), Draw +205

Pick 2: Pohang Steelers vs Ulsan Hyundai

At 6:00 am EST Saturday morning, fourth-place Pohang host second-place Ulsan Hyundai in an East Coast derby, also known as the Donghaean Derby.

Goals have been coming at a premium in the K League. yet the Pohang Steelers have scored in each of their four matches. Last weekend they exploded offensively with four goals against Incheon in a 4-1 win. They now have some questions on defense though as they’ve seen two top defenders leave for Sangju to complete their military service.

🎙️ Chatting with the K1 Golden Boot leading @jrnegao_ for this week's #KLUpod about his season thus far, MVP talk, and the #EastCoastDerby coming up this weekend.

❓ Get your questions for him in the comments below. #KLeague | #K리그 | #ULS pic.twitter.com/yEmzUHGXCK

— Ryan Walters (@MrRyanWalters) June 1, 2020

The Horangi have blown an early opportunity to take a lead in the table with back-to-back 1-1 draws with newly-promoted sides Busan and Gwangju. This could, in part, be due to the fact Kim Do-hoon decided to rotate his squad in these matches.

Ulsan fell behind early last week to Gwangju just 12 minutes in but drew level on an own goal in the 22′ minute. Despite holding nearly 70-percent possession and leading in attempts (15-5), shots on goal (8-4) and corners (12-4), Ulsan could not find a second goal. Dropping points to these opponents has to be seen as a huge letdown and the Horangi will be looking for a response this weekend.

💬 “I can assure you that the players, clubs and league are at a highly competitive level. Newcomers to the @kleague will easily find the joy of football here."

🐯 @ulsanFC's Lee Chungyong hopes the lack of ⚽️ during #COVID19 gets more eyes on 🇰🇷

👉 https://t.co/T9xwcU3uuQ pic.twitter.com/ZsoJ6TTP4D

— FIFA (@FIFAcom) May 24, 2020

These teams met four times last year with Pohang winning 4-1, 2-1 and 2-1. While Ulsan won one of the meetings 1-0. Four of the last five meetings have seen both teams score and OVER 2.5 goal totals. Nine of the most recent 11 matches have seen BTTS ‘Yes’ cash. That 4-1 result for Pohang was especially important as it denied Ulsan the title on the last game of the season.

This may be one of the few matches this weekend where we see an influx of goals.

Pick: BTTS (-135)

Pick 3: Seongnam FC vs Daegu FC

These sides kick off at 6:00 am EST on Sunday in Seongnam.

I’ve talked earlier of low-scoring games in the K League and oddsmakers have this one circled, as do I, as the most likely to end in a draw this weekend. At +195 odds this is the only match with odds under 2-1 for a stalemate, a rarity not only in the K League, but in many soccer leagues worldwide.

Seongnam finds themselves just one point back of the leaders Jeonbuk and tied in second with eight points. This comes off the back of a last-minute win against Seoul on the weekend. Seongnam did have 57-percent of the ball, but it took until the dying moments for Tomislav Kim to score in the 91′ minute for the win.

🇰🇷 @kleague 1 Recap: @daegufc2002 1-1 @SANGJUSANGMU

🗞️ Cesinha's impressive opener is not enough to claim the Sky Blues' first win of the season. @Daegu_freak recaps Friday's match.#KLeague | #K리그 | #DAEvSAN https://t.co/bsOarTs5T0

— K League United (@KLeagueUnited) May 31, 2020

Previous to this, Seongnam drew 1-1 and 0-0 in their two matches prior. That means they were very close to having seen only two goals overall in their past three. The other win on the year came in Round 1 vs bottom side Gwangju (2-0).

Daegu finds themselves ninth in the table with no wins in four matches, but, they have just one loss as well. That’s three draws, including last weekend’s 1-1 result with Sangju. On the plus, they saw the return of target man Cesinha who scored Daegu’s lone goal, but on the negative, captain Hong Jungwoon left the game early with a knee injury.

I'm only going to watch this just one last time. Promise… #KLeague #DAEvSAN #Cesinha pic.twitter.com/LtXD9LVOnM

— Daegu Club (@DaeguFC_en) May 30, 2020

They’ve also drawn 1-1 (Pohang) and 0-0 (Incheon). Their lone defeat was 2-0 away to Jeonbuk.

The Seongnam goal has only been breached once, while Daegu has only scored twice, and have drawn in three of four. I’m backing another draw.

Pick: Draw +195