Will 3 points stay at Vinh Stadium in the opening match of Phase 2 of V.League 2023?

The away team's limitations

Lam River Nghe Anand Ho Chi Minh City Club will face each other at Vinh Stadium at 6:00 p.m. on July 15 in the first match of Phase 2 of V.League 2023. Although the two teams are competing for relegation, the situation is quite different. Currently, Song Lam Nghe An has 16 points, while coach Vu Tien Thanh's team has only 8 points and is in second to last place in the V.League 2023 rankings.

Looking back at the match at Thong Nhat Stadium in round 13, Ho Chi Minh City showed great determination, with the desire to win maximum points against Viettel to create a safe distance from the bottom team Binh Duong. However, the immaturity in both tactics and expertise caused this team to accept defeat. It can be said that the defeat of coach Vu Tien Thanh's students accurately reflected the strength that this team currently has.

The defense is the biggest weakness of Ho Chi Minh City, after 13 matches the "red battleship" has conceded 27 goals and is the team that has conceded the most goals in V.League. To overcome this, in the mid-season transfer period, Ho Chi Minh City Club decided to recruit center-back Brendon Lucas to replace Jonathan Campbell. However, the "red battleship"'s defense system still played carelessly, lacking the ability to cover. So despite having the new Brazilian player, they still had to concede a goal to the away team.

On the attacking front, Mansaray and Hoang Vu Samson are strikers capable of playing independently, but if they know how to separate these two players from the surrounding satellites, and have enough manpower to play close, then locking them down is not too difficult. In addition, Ho Chi Minh City Club is not a team with a flexible and varied playing style, so it is not really a concern for teams that can maintain a stable formation distance.

There will be few surprises at Vinh Stadium.

Song Lam Nghe An is gradually finding itself again since the club appointed a new coach. In the last 3 matches, the Nghe team has won 7 points (previously after 10 rounds they only got 9 points) and is ranked first in group B. To soon complete the goal of staying in the league this season, Song Lam Nghe An needs 7 more points. With the current form, it will not be too difficult for Phan Nhu Thuat and his team to complete that goal. And the first obstacle that Song Lam Nghe An needs to overcome is Ho Chi Minh City Club.

This is the team that brought Nhu Thuat his first success as captain of Song Lam Nghe An. Recalling that match, Song Lam Nghe An performed quite convincingly with coherent, highly variable attacking moves, making it quite difficult for the away team's defense to defend. In addition, the Nghe club's defensive ability has also improved significantly compared to before. The central defenders and midfielders of the Vinh home team no longer play like they are sleepwalking, but have been proactive in catching people and predicting second ball situations. This has left Mansaray with little room to show their inherent strength. Song Lam Nghe An's loss only came from a moment of brilliance by Hoang Vu Samson, with a long-range shot from a distance of more than 30m.

It can be objectively assessed that, in the match of round 11, Nghe An Club showed superiority in both professional level and tactics in each stage of the match. Coach Nhu Thuat knew how to use the right people, attack at the right time and flexibly apply tactics. Thereby helping Song Lam Nghe An win with a score of 2-1.

Notably, in the most recent match of round 13, Song Lam Nghe An had a resounding victory at Hang Day Stadium against the reigning champion Hanoi FC. That victory not only helped coach Phan Nhu Thuat's team gain a big advantage in the relegation race, but also helped Nghe An's strikers gain confidence before entering phase 2.

The biggest highlight of the match at Hang Day Stadium was the shining performance of talented young midfielder Dinh Xuan Tien. The midfielder wearing the number 23 shirt had a convincing answer to the doubts about his performance in recent times. And above all, this will be a lever for the midfielder from Nam Dan to regain his confidence and contribute more to Song Lam Nghe An in the future.

In addition, Que Ngoc Hai, Trong Hoang, Xuan Manh, and goalkeeper Van Viet are also achieving high performance and will be the key to helping Song Lam Nghe An play explosively and quickly escape the danger zone.

With the above analysis, it can be affirmed that the rematch in round 1 of phase 2, between Song Lam Nghe An and Ho Chi Minh City Club will hardly have an overthrow. Coach Phan Nhu Thuat and his team will likely easily defeat the away team to gain an advantage in the relegation race.