Defending champions Ulsan Hyundai will look to celebrate their title this weekend.
Ulsan will host Daegu FC in the 35th round of the Hana OneQ K League 1 2023 at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium at 2 p.m. on April 29.
Ulsan currently leads the league with 67 points from 20 wins, seven draws and seven losses. They are eight points ahead of second-place Pohang Steelers (59). With four games remaining, Ulsan could clinch the title as early as this weekend, depending on the results of both teams.
For Ulsan to clinch the title early, they will need help from their opponents, Jeonbuk Hyundai. Jeonbuk hosts Pohang a day earlier at 2 p.m. on Nov. 28 at Jeonju World Cup Stadium. Jeonbuk needs to beat Pohang in that match to trigger the first step of Ulsan’s scenario.
If Pohang loses to Jeonbuk and Ulsan beats Daegu a day later, both teams will have 11 points. With three games remaining, Ulsan would be guaranteed the title. If the title isn’t decided in round 35, it will likely be decided in round 36 when Ulsan and Pohang meet.
Ulsan’s league form hasn’t been great lately. They haven’t won in three games, including a 0-1 loss to Gwangju FC in the last round. If you extend that to seven games, they have one win, four draws, and two losses, which doesn’t look like a first-place team. The key will be to continue the momentum from their midweek Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) win over Johor Darul Ta’zim (Malaysia).
Ulsan will be looking to break another record in Daegu. This season, Ulsan has totaled 281,473 fans in 16 home matches. With 18,527 fans in attendance against Daegu, they will reach the 300,000 mark. This is a first for Ulsan and only the second club after FC Seoul (2019) since the introduction of paid attendance in the K League in 2018. 스포츠토토
The club has already surpassed its own record. Ulsan set a single-season home attendance record of 254,164 in 2011. After surpassing that mark this season, Ulsan is on track to reach the 300,000 home attendance mark.
It will also challenge the club’s average home attendance of 20,000. With three home games remaining, Ulsan is averaging 17,592 fans. If about 98,000 people come to the stadium in the remaining games, the average attendance will reach 20,000.
Ulsan said, “We are achieving valuable results for a non-metropolitan club that has a hard time attracting crowds compared to the metropolitan area. We will invite 32,000 fans to the stadium per game and achieve the long-awaited average attendance of 20,000.”