Pohang Steelers

vs

Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i

Preview

Pohang Steelers

• Pohang Steelers have won just once in their last five competitive games, losing four, and arrive at Steelyard Stadium for Saturday's derby against Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i on the back of a four-game losing streak.
• The Steelyard Stadium team have won only three of their ten K-League 1 2026 home games so far this season, drawing two and losing five, and they have only scored four goals in front of their own fans all season.
• Pohang also lost their two previous K-League 1 2026 matches at home, going down 0-2 to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC and 0-1 to Gimcheon Sangmu.

Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i

• Hyun-Seok Kim's Ulsan Hyundai side are evenly matched in this derby as they are quicker and a bit more direct in their approach, allowing them to feed the ball to physical players in the offensive third and win the second balls.
• Hyundai have won one, drawn one and lost three of their last five matches in all competitions, beating FC Seoul 3-1 in their most recent away game in K-League 1 2026, but also suffering a 1-2 home defeat to Incheon United FC and exiting the Korea Cup with a 1-0 away defeat to Ulsan Citizen.

Head-to-Head

• Pohang are 7th in K-League 1 2026 with 28 points from 21 games, while Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i are 4th with 31 points from 20.
• Pohang have won three and drawn two of the last five head-to-head meetings, with Ulsan winless in their last three away at Pohang.

Key Players

• Jakob Tranziska has been on a hot streak for Pohang recently, scoring three of their five goals in their last five games, but Ho-Jae Lee remains their main goal threat in K-League 1 2026 with eight in 20 appearances.
• Yago Cariello has been Ulsan's danger man with nine in 17 appearances in K-League 1 2026, making them the more reliable of the No. 9s to take the game to Pohang.

Betting Insights

• Backing Ulsan to beat Pohang in the outright market looks a good bet as the bookmakers are set at 2.62 for both teams; the draw comes in at 3.2 and Pohang's head-to-head record in this fixture makes an upset very much live.
• A home upset could come if Pohang are able to exploit Ulsan's obvious weaknesses with their wide overloads and counters, but we feel Ulsan's greater tempo and duel power should see them take the win; it will be a close game though, so we'll take Under 2.5 goals at 1.8 and Both Teams to Score - Yes at 1.7 for smaller bets.