Saigon - SLNA: The losing team faces the winning team

With the three teams at the bottom of the rankings, SLNA, Saigon and Nam Dinh, only having 8, 7 and 6 points respectively, no team wants to be careless in direct confrontations. If they win against the home team Saigon, the Nghe An team will have the conditions to push the top before the end of the first leg of the season.

Usually, teams will add more players after the first leg. If they don't quickly escape dangerous positions, they will face many difficulties in the second leg.

Homeowner in danger

The home team Saigon's form is at a red alert level, with 3 consecutive matches, including 2 home matches, they lost all. Saigon lost to XSKT Can Tho (1-2), lost to home team B.Binh Duong (1-5) and recently to away team Hai Phong (0-1). Meanwhile, SLNA, after 2 losses to HAGL and Hanoi, had a draw at Hoa Xuan Stadium after Tuan Tai wasted a penalty kick at the end of the match.

Without good preparation at the beginning of the season, Coach Tai Em is facing many difficulties. Photo: AT

In fact, the fact that Mr. Dai's team is ranked 13th in the rankings does not surprise fans. The rather late appearance of coach Tai Em, along with the "lost" foreign players Dugary, Da Sylva and the departure of key domestic players such as Van Thanh, Van Thuan (to Ho Chi Minh City Club).

Most notably, the two central defenders Dinh Trong and striker Ngan Van Dai returned to the capital, leaving new coach Tai Em with only Quoc Long, Ngoc Duy, Hoang Thien, and Bui Tran Vu as the brightest names.

With striker Da Sylva not playing really impressively, only scoring 2 goals since the beginning of the season, and Mr. Dai's team not gaining sympathy from referees, Saigon is in the group with the most losses in V-League.

Manager Nguyen Giang Dong disappeared before the promise "in just 2 years in Saigon, the club will be profitable, don't worry guys" took effect, leaving Mr. Dai to take over "the theater troupe, the young manager and the young singers".

SLNA struggles but cannot escape

Bad luck continues to haunt the Nghe An team, leaving them stuck at 13th place in the 2018 V-League rankings. Without goalkeeper Nguyen Manh, the defense consisting of 4 national team players and U23 Vietnam players such as Que Ngoc Hai, Tran Dinh Hoang, Pham Xuan Manh, or Hoang Van Khanh has a total of 37 national team matches (if including Manh Hung, it is 43 matches) and has conceded 14 goals.

Up to now, only 2/11 matches SLNA has kept their net intact, a number that explains why the Nghe An team is struggling in the top 3 at the bottom of the rankings.

After 3 consecutive losses, Saigon players are facing the challenge of SLNA. Photo: AT

SLNA missed the chance to separate from the group when welcoming Nam Dinh at home by giving coach Van Sy and his team the first 3 points of the season. This is the opportunity for them to "correct" when Saigon just stumbled in the last 2 matches.

Fortunately for SLNA, Coach Tai Em’s team played quite well as underdogs, and at Hang Day Stadium they had earned 1 point against Hanoi FC, who were very strong. But in this confrontation, although their force was not stronger, the situation forced them to attack to earn 3 points.

For Saigon, if they draw with their direct opponents at home, the path back to the First Division will be closer than ever. And this is the opportunity for SLNA to practice their counter-attacking style. The Nghe An team had some difficulties when Van Duc, their top scorer, was slightly injured, but the team's spirit was quite high after earning 1 point at Hoa Xuan Stadium.

With such importance, the match between Saigon - SLNA and Than Quang Ninh - HAGL is considered the highlight of this round. The match in which the winning team gets more than 3 points will greatly improve the psychological factor and ranking.