Song Lam Nghe An trains hard under the hot sun to welcome Hanoi Club

With the desire to make it more convenient for audiences in districts/towns to travel to Vinh city to watch matches at the National Championship, the Vinh Stadium Organizing Committee has proposed to the Tournament Organizing Committee and received approval to change the match time from 16:00 to 17:00 in all matches at the home stadium of Song Lam Nghe An Club.

That means the matches will take place during the hot weather in the Central region that has not yet completely cooled down. However, Song Lam Nghe An fans living far away can return home in time when the match ends at 19:00. In fact, a large number of Song Lam Nghe An's loyal Nghe An fans come from far away districts/towns.

To get used to the new match schedule, coach Phan Nhu Thuat and his team have changed the training schedule earlier than expected in recent training sessions. Accordingly, Song Lam Nghe An players start their training sessions between 3:30 p.m. or 4:00 p.m. In addition, the logistics department of the Nghe An team has also re-studied the diet and nutrition regimen so that the players can improve their physical strength as quickly as possible during the remaining stages of the season.

In the recent friendly matches, Song Lam Nghe An showed a certain improvement when defeating Ha Tinh and Thep Xanh Nam Dinh. Although they were only practice matches, coach Phan Nhu Thuat's students had more options to attack as well as welcomed the return of important players in the midfield and defense.

Returning to the match against Hanoi Club, Song Lam Nghe An will almost have the strongest lineup when two players Dinh Xuan Tien and Tran Nam Hai have fully recovered and can play again. In addition to the absence of Mai Sy Hoang due to disciplinary action, Song Lam Nghe An has an advantage over the away team, when the away team is missing two very important players. In particular, Van Quyet is suspended due to receiving 3 yellow cards and striker Joel Tagueu is suspended due to a red card in the match against Nam Dinh in round 14.

In terms of form, the away team Hanoi is the better team with a record of 3 wins and 2 losses, while Song Lam Nghe An lost 3 and drew 2 in the last 5 matches in the V.League arena. Coach Phan Nhu Thuat and his team need to forget the pressure of points in this period and the most important thing is to be truly confident when playing at home after the recent break.

In the past and present, the matches between Song Lam Nghe An and Hanoi at Vinh Stadium are all promisingly dramatic and fierce matches. However, the head-to-head record of the Nghe team against this opponent at home is quite modest with 2 wins, 6 draws and 4 losses. The last time at Vinh Stadium in the 2022 season, the two teams drew 1-1 on the day that Vinh Stadium witnessed tens of thousands of spectators coming to cheer.

The match between Song Lam Nghe An and Hanoi in Round 16 of V.League 2023/24 takes place at 17:00 on May 4, 2024.