Round 17 V.League 2024/25: Song Lam Nghe An and the challenge at Thong Nhat Stadium
Ho Chi Minh City Club is not a strong team in V.League at the moment, but to defeat and take over the position of this opponent on the rankings, Song Lam Nghe An needs to maintain the current excitement.
After an important 2-1 victory over Dong Thap to win a ticket to the Semi-finals of the National Cup 2024/25,Lam River Nghe Anneed to focus soon on the V.League arena, where coach Phan Nhu Thuat and his team are currently in an unsafe position (12th), with only 3 wins, 7 draws and 6 victories, scoring 11 goals, conceding 23 goals.
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It is worth mentioning that Song Lam Nghe An’s away record this season is not good. The Nghe An team has played 7 away matches, but has lost 4 and drawn 3, without any wins.
Song Lam Nghe An's opponent in the upcoming match is Ho Chi Minh City Club, a team that is also not in good form in the V.League with 4 wins, 7 draws like Song Lam Nghe An and 5 losses. Ho Chi Minh City's scoring record this season is also very poor, scoring only 13 goals and conceding 21.
It is worth mentioning that Ho Chi Minh City's playing style is considered the most "card-consuming" in V.League when it has received 44 yellow cards and 1 red card, along with Hong Linh Ha Tinh and Hoang Anh Gia Lai, the teams that have received the most in the tournament so far.
Ho Chi Minh City's squad this season does not have many quality players, but they have a bit more experience and have an overseas Vietnamese player, Adriano Schmidt, who will be playing at home this time. This year, the Southern team does not have any dangerous strikers, and the three players who have scored the most goals (2 goals) for Ho Chi Minh City are foreign players Endrick, Bui Ngoc Long and Tran Manh Cuong. The remaining foreign players of the home team also do not meet the requirements.
Among them, foreign player Endrick is also the only hope of Ho Chi Minh City when this player not only contributed 2 goals, played the most but also contributed 2 assists. In terms of foreign players, SLNA players Olaha and Kuku still have more significant contributions than the foreign players of the opposing team.
Of the 13 goals that Ho Chi Minh City scored this season, only 3 were in the first half and most of them came in the second half. Specifically, in the 45-60 minutes, Ho Chi Minh City scored 4 goals (30.8%), 2 goals in the 60-75 minutes and 4 goals in the 75-90 minutes. To achieve this, Ho Chi Minh City's physical strength is highly appreciated.
Song Lam Nghe An's head-to-head record against Ho Chi Minh City is relatively positive. Including the 0-0 draw in the first leg, Song Lam Nghe An, the Nghe An team has won 8, drawn 6 and lost 6 in a total of 20 meetings. Away from home, Song Lam Nghe An has only won 2, drawn 2 and lost 4 matches.
Regarding the squad before the match against Ho Chi Minh City, Song Lam Nghe An will not have the service of central defender Zaracho. This will force coach Phan Nhu Thuat to use a pair of domestic central defenders in the upcoming match. The absence of the Paraguayan central defender will certainly affect the defense system and this match is predicted to be very difficult.
Therefore, Song Lam Nghe An needs to prioritize ensuring the defense before thinking about getting the first away win. And more importantly, a reasonable strategy when many players have had a good start and warm-up at the National Cup.
This will be an important match for the rest of the V.League, so on April 1, coach Phan Nhu Thuat and his team will move early to Ho Chi Minh City. The match taking place on April 5 will have about 3,000 Nghe An fans cheering for Song Lam Nghe An, creating a match worth waiting for./.