Jeonbuk Hyundai and Daejeon Hana Citizen will face off in the K League 1 lead competition. 

Jeonbuk Hyundai and Daejeon Hana Citizen will face each other in the 12th round of Hana Bank K League 1 2025 at Jeonju World Cup Stadium on the 6th. 안전놀이터

Jeonbuk is ranking second with six wins, three draws and two losses and 21 points, while Daejeon is leading the K-League 1 with eight wins, two draws and two losses and 26 points. As Daejeon had 12 matches and Jeonbuk had 11, however, the team is expected to stage a fierce ranking battle. 

Jeonbuk has been undefeated in eight games (6 wins and 2 draws), including the match against the Ansan Greeners (3-0 wins) in the third round of the Korea Cup since March 16 against the Pohang Steelers (2-2 draw).

In particular, in the 11th round held on the 3rd, FC Seoul, which was considered the favorite before the opening, beat 1-0 in the enemy territory.

Since Gus Foye took the helm of the team in the early days of the season, the team has been adapting itself, and the mood is completely different recently. The team is prioritizing the outcome in order to regain Jeonbuk's DNA to win the match. In an away match against Anyang, Foye explained why it had no choice but to deploy defense. However, the team won the match, and the mood changed. 

In particular, he is playing with a different squad from the beginning of the season. They are giving opportunities to players who have produced great results. The main characters are Kim Jin-gyu and Kang Sang-yoon, who have displayed a wide range of activities in the midfield along with the performances of frontline striker Kompanyo and side striker Jun Jin-woo. Kang, in particular, constantly harassed Seoul through his explosive activities in the last game as well. 

Ahead of the match against Daejeon, he said, "Since it is a competition between players, I will really play like a dog. If I display my strengths by playing hard and get good results in the team, I will work harder in that role." 

The defense team joined by Hong Jeong-ho is showing completely different patterns. Jeonbuk has allowed 10 goals in 11 games this season. Based on the results obtained this season, it ranks second in the minimum number of goals lost. Although it varies depending on the situation in the league, it has lost fewer points in one game than its opponent, Daejeon. Not only the defense but also Song Bum-keun was named the MVP of the round due to his good defense in the last match against Seoul. 

Daejeon has also completely changed. He is leading the league by displaying a completely transformative performance. Daejeon's last loss was against Jeonbuk (0-2) on June 5. He has not lost a single game in five matches including the Korea Cup for about a month.

Daejeon, which won all four games after drawing 2-2 with Seoul on the 12th of last month, is currently the leader in the K League 1.

If they win the first and second place matches, they will have five consecutive wins. If so, they will likely form a solo structure from the beginning, beating the second-ranked teams.

In particular, Daejeon won the match against Anyang on the 3rd with the debut goal of Kim Hyun-oh, a high school student born in 2007 from Team Youth, winning three consecutive games and maintaining the lead.

Kim started as a starter at his debut match in the pro league. He scored his debut goal at the 36th minute of the first half by scoring a header from Kim Moon-hwan's cross from the goalpost. The goal, which he recorded at the age of 17 years, seven months and 21 days, is the youngest goal scored in the history of the Daejeon team. 

Kim Hyun-oh is a senior at Chungnam Machinery Technical High School, a team under the age of 18 under the Daejeon club that produced Hwang In-beom and Yoon Do-young, and was recognized as a prospect by receiving the Cha Bum-keun Award in 2020. Kim Hyun-oh, who grew up in Daejeon's youth system, signed a semi-professional contract with Daejeon in February. Young player Kim Hyun-oh's performance is certainly expected to be a great boost to Daejeon.