Round 14, Song Lam Nghe An meets Hai Phong: Decisive battle to escape danger

The miserable

At the end of the first leg, Song Lam Nghe An and Hai Phong both did not have the desired results and are struggling to earn points. Hai Phong (14 points) is temporarily ranked 9th on the rankings but is only 1 point ahead of the Nghe An team ranked 11th. Therefore, in the next meeting, Song Lam Nghe An will push Hai Phong down if they get 3 points at Vinh Stadium.

On the contrary, if there is only 1 draw, Song Lam Nghe An will easily sink deeper because in this round 14, LPBank Hoang Anh Gia Lai has a chance to rise when welcoming Khanh Hoa, while Hong Linh Ha Tinh welcomes the team ranked 2nd on the rankings, Becamex Binh Duong.

In addition to Hai Phong and Song Lam Nghe An, the lower group also includes Quang Nam (15 points), Hong Linh Ha Tinh (14 points), LPBank Hoang Anh Gia Lai (13 points), The Cong - Viettel (13 points) and Khanh Hoa (9 points). In this group, it is quite surprising to see The Cong - Viettel, but looking at their recent form, the possibility of this team rising in the next rounds is predictable. This becomes even more likely when they only have to welcome Quang Nam in the next round.

The weakest team in the relegation group is Khanh Hoa. Although they have added players recently, this is still a team with weak strength. Thus, if Khanh Hoa is ranked as the team with the highest possibility of relegation according to the current position, then Quang Nam, Hai Phong, Hong Linh Ha Tinh and LPBank Hoang Anh Gia Lai are the 4 teams directly competing with Song Lam Nghe An for the position.

The gap between the above teams is only 2-3 points, so each match is a “final” match, causing the position to change continuously on the rankings. The important thing is which team takes advantage of the recent break to stabilize the force and overcome weaknesses.

"Hot" in Vinh City

At Vinh Stadium, although Nghe An fans were not really satisfied with the team's performance, with the 2-2 result in the first leg at Lach Tray Stadium and the way Song Lam Nghe An played this season at home, this is still a match worth looking forward to.

In fact, this season at Vinh Stadium, coach Phan Nhu Thuat and his team have only lost to two teams, which are very strong opponents: Cong An Ha Noi and Thep Xanh Nam Dinh. Although they lost, those matches ended with the minimum score and the young players from Nghe An played very well. They just lacked the experience to keep the points, and could even make their opponents empty-handed if they were luckier.

In all aspects, Hai Phong is not much better than Song Lam Nghe An. However, Hai Phong has a much more effective attack (20/15 goals) than the home team. The quality of domestic players is not much different, Song Lam Nghe An's weakness that everyone has long seen is the lack of a striker to "share the fire" with Michael Olaha.

However, coach Phan Nhu Thuat has also decided to trust current players such as Success, Van Luong, Xuan Dai in the attack. If Nam Hai and Xuan Tien recover in time to play in this match, there will be more options for Song Lam Nghe An. The loss and the position that will cause Song Lam Nghe An a headache is the absence of full-back Vuong Van Huy due to suspension.

The away team Hai Phong also does not have the strongest squad in this away match. Coach Chu Dinh Nghiem said they have up to 10 injured players, while Song Lam Nghe An has 4. Hai Phong's recent form has also been quite poor. The port city team has 7 winless matches in V.League 2023/2024. In which, there was a match where Song Lam Nghe An held them to a 2-2 draw at Lach Tray.

If Song Lam Nghe An maintain their form and style of play like in their home matches this season, a draw or a win is not too difficult for the Nghe An team. The important thing is that coach Phan Nhu Thuat's students must show more courage and alertness in decisive moments. If they cannot overcome difficulties in this match, the road ahead for Song Lam Nghe An will be very difficult./.

Yen Thanh