V.League 2019: Fierce race for classification

Race to the top

Up to now, there are only 2 teams that have not lost any matches, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Of course, with 10 points, they are convincingly leading the V.League 2019 rankings. In which, Thanh Luong's team has scored 12 goals, an average of 3 goals/match and has only conceded 1 goal, showing the absolute strength of the defending champion.

Interestingly, after round 4, there are 4 teams with 7 points and sharing positions from 4th to 7th, namely B.Binh Duong, Saigon, SLNA and Than Quang Ninh. Although only ranked 7th, Than Quang Ninh is considered the team with the best form when it has won all 2 recent rounds, followed by Saigon and finally SLNA.

Coach Phan Thanh Hung is leading Than Quang Ninh to join the top of the V.League 2019 rankings. Photo: VPF

It seems that both Quang Nam and Thanh Hoa will face difficulties when they play away against Saigon and SLNA in the next round. These are the teams in the top group of V.League, especially SLNA who wants to get 3 points after the humiliating defeat at Hang Day Stadium. After 90 minutes of "struggling" at Hang Day Stadium, the Nghe An team certainly does not want to be turned away by the Vinh Stadium audience.

SLNA's next two opponents are Thanh Hoa (home) and SHB.Da Nang (away), so if they don't get 4 points, falling to the bottom half of the rankings is predicted.

Escape the "red light" group

On the other hand, there are two teams that have not yet tasted victory, namely Quang Nam and Thanh Hoa. This season, Thanh Hoa is in the process of rejuvenation after the departure of a series of key players such as Trong Hoang, Omar, Dinh Dong, Quoc Phuong, Thanh Thang... and there is no budget to add more players, so it is understandable that they have not had a victory.

But the fact that Quang Nam, the former V.League champion, has only drawn 2 matches after 4 rounds is something that not many people think about. Although the opponents of the Quang Nam team are top teams such as SLNA, Hanoi, SHB.Da Nang and Than Quang Ninh, it cannot be denied that coach Hoang Van Phuc's preparation for the tournament has problems.

HAGL and Nam Dinh are making fans skeptical and worried about the fate of the team after 3 consecutive losses. If Nam Dinh, the "poor kid" lost more than half of the main squad after the 2018 V.League season, the audience at Thien Truong Stadium has gradually gotten used to the losses, but HAGL is the opposite.

It's quite painful when Mr. Duc leaves.CoachChung Hae-seong left and shone at Thong Nhat Stadium, but the team from the mountain town played poorly. In 3 losses, there were 2 losses to Ho Chi Minh City and Saigon at home, making the Plei-ku stadium audience unhappy. If they lose to the visiting team Than Quang Ninh in the next round, the fate of coach Duong Minh Ninh will be put on the scale.

Nam Dinh has shown signs of running out of steam. Photo: VPF

There are 4 teams that have only won 3 points, divided from 9th to 12th place respectively: HAGL, Nam Dinh, S.Khanh Hoa, Viettel. Although currently in 11th place, S.Khanh Hoa is the team that is assessed to have the best chance of escaping the danger of joining the "red light" group soonest. On the contrary, after the loss, S.Khanh Hoa has revealed the bad potential for coach Nguyen Van Sy and his team because Nam Dinh's squad is both weak and thin, the most difficult thing is that they do not have much money to supplement their forces for this long-term battle.

HAGL and Viettel, like the two teams mentioned above, lost 3 of their first 4 matches but clearly they are still teams with potential. Coach Lee Heung-sil still needs time to adapt to the V.League and the loss to B.Binh Duong is considered a "field accident" rather than a lack of game position. When Que Ngoc Hai returns and Vu Minh Tuan integrates with the new team, they will catch up with the V.League.

After parting ways with Mr. Chung Hae-seong to join Ho Chi Minh City Club, Mr. Duc added Mr.Lee Tae-hooninto HAGL BHL members.The Korean coach was born in 1961. His coaching career was associated with Cambodian football from 2010 to 2017, through all levels of the Cambodian national team. Recently, the "old man"Huynh Van Anh has also just been called up. Mr. Duc has backup plans in case "captain" Duong Minh Ninh cannot revive the team.