The first leg of Song Lam Nghe An's journey to the finish line

This is the final stage, the competitor Hanoi also has to face tough opponents such as T.Binh Dinh, Hoang Anh Gia Lai, B.Binh Duong before facing the host Song Lam Nghe An in round 14. Referee Van Hai ruined the match at Hang Day Stadium, making the 2-1 victory of the host Hanoi FC unconvincing. Nghe An fans really hope that coach Huy Hoang and his team will continue to chase their opponents to have a dramatic second leg match with high professional quality.

Unpredictable foreign players

Olaha's red card will put the Nghe An army at a disadvantage. Photo: VPF

First of all, this is a very unpredictable period because V.League 2022 teams are allowed to register foreign players for each match until the deadline of August 17. Meanwhile, Olaha was unexpectedly given a direct red card so he could not play in the match against Thanh Hoa and Song Lam Nghe An has not had a new foreign player to pair with Oseni.

Meanwhile, due to Paulo Henrique's long-term injury, Thanh Hoa is testing Cristian Alex. The striker, born in 1993 in Rio de Janniero, is 1m88 tall and started his football career with the youth team of Audax Club - a Serie A2 team and then the youth team of Cruizero Club in Brazil's Serie B. The Thanh Hoa team will test 1 more Brazilian player and 1 Ukrainian player.

Dong A Thanh Hoa has decided on central defender Gustavo Santos to replace Victor Kamhuka. However, because Minh Tung has not been able to return due to injury, in the match against Viettel, Dong A Thanh Hoa started with 3 foreign players, including the central defender duo Victor Kamhuka - Gustavo Santos and midfielder Paulo Pinto.

If coach Petrovic continues to use Trong Hung as the highest player on the home team's attack line with midfielders Van Thang and Quoc Phuong, the home team Song Lam Nghe An will have an easier time.

Score points on Thien Truong field

Que Ngoc Hai is the real leader of the team. Photo: VPF

Home team Nam Dinh must do their best to welcome Ho Chi Minh City Club before thinking about Song Lam Nghe An. With Fagan out of shape, his speed and strength are no longer as scary as before, Yevhen and Santana are disappointing the coaching staff, so the chance to score points at Thien Truong Stadium, even 3 points, will be higher than ever. Coach Van Sy has only one option left: kicking long balls to the sidelines and lofting them into the 16.5m area, making it very difficult to score against Song Lam Nghe An. Nam Dinh is also not "strong because of rice, bold because of money" to spend money on foreign players. Surely coach Huy Hoang will set a target of 3 points for this match when Hanoi FC will face HAGL at Hang Day Stadium.

Top Race

Whether Song Lam Nghe An can make it into the TOP 3 after the first leg or not depends largely on the match with host Viettel. Currently not in the same form as Hanoi, Song Lam Nghe An or Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Viettel is still among the teams competing for medals of the season. The live matches will be extremely important for the teams, including Song Lam Nghe An.

Before meeting the Nghe An team, coach Bae Ji-won and his team will have a difficult away match at SHB.Da Nang's Hoa Xuan Stadium. Currently, Viettel is in trouble after coach Truong Viet Hoang left the team, Hoang Duc and Khac Ngoc are not in good form. The trio Geovane, Pedro Paulo and Abdumuminov are still not in form, in the match against Thanh Hoa, Pedro Paulo was out of action, Sy Chien replaced Hoang Duc and could not keep the rhythm. But coach Bae Ji-won still has many young players worth watching, such as Hoang Son. It is predicted that this will be a difficult match for the Nghe An team.

In addition to keeping a cool head and avoiding losses and injuries, Song Lam Nghe An needs to rotate players appropriately during this physically exhausting finishing phase./.