Two teams at opposite ends of the table meet for the third – and final – time this Friday evening at Anyang Stadium. The home side are firmly in a relegation scrap thanks to three points from a possible 15. Pohang, meanwhile, have reignited their top six aspirations as they go in search of three straight wins.
Match details
Match: FC Anyang vs. Pohang Steelers.
Date: Friday, August 15th, 2025. 19:00.
Venue: Anyang Stadium. Capacity 17,000.
How to watch:K League TV.
Anyang and Pohang will meet for the third time this season on Friday.
For this preview, FC Anyang writer Andrew Farrell teams up with Pohang Steelers correspondent Claire Evans. Claire has featured on the KLU podcast this season, and for fans interested in the WK League and Korean Women’s National Team, please check our her dedicated Instagram page – wkleaguenews
Record so far
Played: 25 Won: 8 Drew: 3 Lost: 14 Points: 27
Goals For: 30 Goals Against: 34
Goals For: 29 Goals Against: 25
How are they doing so far?
When Anyang left Castle Park with all three points on June 14, many assumed the threat of relegation was put behind them. Ryu Byeong-hoon’s team were even flirting with the idea of a top half assault, backed up by the prolific Bruno Mota. It helped that Anyang were continually taking points off the teams we expected to be in danger with them when the season kicked off. Since then, six matches, five defeats, and one spot above automatic relegation. I don’t know if it is a good or bad thing that Anyang are not playing poorly. Glass half full approach suggests they’ll turn all those narrow defeats into draws and wins. On the flip side, why are they losing close games despite being rather good?
Losing narrowly has been the hallmark of their season. Four of those recent five defeats were by a single goal. Anyang were brilliant in Jeonju last Friday. Their previous encounter was a chastening defeat in Suwon. Anyang could have let those wounds resurface against the champions-elect, but they didn’t. After Thomas Oude Kotte equalized with 15 minutes to play, Anyang hit the post, and unmarked Kim Dong-jin headed wide from six yards. Jeonbuk went on to win 2-1. Anyang have yet to draw a match away from home. They were too open as the seconds ticked down, looking for three points when one would have done.
Including their two Cup fixtures in 2025, 16 of Anyang’s 27 matches have been settled by a single goal, one way or another. They’ve outscored five teams, even FC Seoul. Pohang, 4th, have a goal difference that’s just one better. It confirms what we have been saying all season – despite boasting a squad with very little K League experience (they rectified that by signing Kwon Gyeong-won), Anyang have looked every inch a first division team. With 10 goals scored, Mota is third across the entire league. The Brazilian was the only man to play the full 90 minutes for Team K League vs. Newcastle United. Kotte was on the pitch for 83 minutes. Reigning K League 2 MVP Matheus Oliveira has found the back of the net seven times. Yago César tops the assist charts with legendary Daegu forward Cesinha. Anyang look the part but the table doesn’t care one bit about appearance.
Pohang Steelers are having a generally successful season in the K League despite never quite hitting a consistent run of reliably good form. With a number of players unavailable for long periods due to injury, Pohang’s squad has felt a little unsettled, achieving mixed results both home and away. When Pohang do win, it is usually by a narrow margin, making for nervy viewing and leaving them vulnerable to a late equalizer, as seen in their June meeting with a struggling Daegu FC.
After crashing out of the Korea Cup in May at the hands of K League 2 side Gimpo FC, the Steelers lost four out of their eight league matches in June and July. The team seemed to be hitting a slump just as Pohang’s ‘Park Tae-ha drama’ introduced its deus ex ma-Ki-na. Pohang fans went into a frenzy, Ki Sung-yueng shirts flying off the shelves as a sold-out crowd filled Shakespeare’s Steel Yard to witness Pohang go 2-0 against league leaders Jeonbuk in Act I, only to lose 2-3 by the end of Act II. The encore three days later was a dreadful 1-5 home loss against Suwon FC.
Since then, Pohang’s first win away at Daegu in six years and a 1-0 home victory against Gwangju have put fans back in high spirits. The team looks more settled on the pitch, with the return of defender Park Seung-wook from military service softening the blow of Lee Tae-seok’s departure for Austria Wien. It’s still hard to confidently say that things are picking up for Pohang. A win this Friday would mean three in a row for only the second time this season, but Pohang should aim for a buffer of more than one goal if they want to claim victory — Anyang will be keen to pounce on any Pohang errors to pick up points in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. Ki Sung-yueng is unavailable due to an injury sustained in the Gwangju match, so there will be some change to Pohang’s starting lineup, but with An Jae-jun and Lee Dong-hee back in the mix, and Kim Dong-jin’s suspension coming to an end, Park Tae-ha has plenty of options even without the magic Ki.
Anyang’s main man, Bruno Mota, started his K League career in the third division.
Prolific K League 2 strikers don’t always make the leap to the top tier. Friday’s visitors, Pohang, can attest to that. Mota didn’t exactly break the mold (some do adjust to the rigors of K League 1) but Anyang’s Brazilian hit-man has been a revelation since swapping Cheonan’s sky blue for purple. He opened his account with a 92nd minute winner in Ulsan on day one and has produced several huge moments for his club since. Mota is adored in Anyang,and as he told K League United recently, he is loving his time in Bisan-dong, too. To keep the 29-year-old, Anyang will need to prolong their stay in the first division. Mota is a team player. He has built up superb relationships will fellow attacking players wherever he has been in Korea (Paulinho, Aboubacar Toungara, Yago, and Matheus Oliveira) and K League managers will have noted the destructive partnership Mota built with Ulsan’s superstar Lee Dong-gyeong against Newcastle United. Pohang are familiar with his talents. To end the late-summer slump, Anyang need to feed Mota on Friday.
Hong Yun-sang, Pohang Steelers.
Hwang’s new confidence will make him very dangerous to Anyang’s rearguard.
Dr Hong, Hong Grealish, Pohang’s Pride, whatever you want to call him, Hong Yun-sang is enjoying some good form at the moment — emphasis on enjoying. Hong was a huge success last year but his 2025 has been marred by a hamstring injury early in the season and stress over his military service obligations following reports that he didn’t make the cut for Gimcheon Sangmu this time around. In July, Hong netted the first goal against Jeonbuk in front of a packed Steel Yard, then set up a second for Lee Ho-jae to finish. He scored the winner against Gwangju last weekend, beaming from ear to ear as he celebrated with fans after the final whistle. Hong Yun-sang is happy, and he is playing with a renewed confidence that will make him very dangerous to Anyang’s defense.
Record
Pohang have taken six points from a possible six in this fixture. They met for the first time in the league in early April. Mota opened the scoring early for Anyang at the Steel Yard. They took that lead to the break, but goals from Cho Sang-hyeok and Lee Ho-jae turned the game. A familiar 2-1 loss for the Violets. The following month, Pohang visited Anyang in terrible conditions. Just like their first meeting, Pohang struck twice after the break to claim all three points. If memory serves me, optimism was high in Anyang that evening because they were hitting form and Pohang weren’t. But in driving rain, the Steelers overpowered Anyang to deservedly win the match.
Prediction
Andrew: I don’t know why I’m picking Anyang. In some ways, it is the opposite of May’s meeting, when the team without form went on to win. Anyang are also fully aware that this is unbelievably important. At the start of the season, Ryu and his coaches probably had this marked down as a loss. But after losing to Jeju and Suwon FC recently, Anyang need a big performance in front of their fans to reignite their season. A loss won’t be critical, but three points would give them an enormous boost in confidence, just when they need it most. Yago, in particular, is in a rich vein of form. The Brazilian to set up his compatriot Mota for the winner.
FC Anyang 2-1 Pohang Steelers
Claire: Pohang are the stronger team and should come away from Anyang with all three points, but the home team will make them work for it. Anyang’s track record points to a narrow loss, while Pohang’s form puts them on course for a narrow win, scoring two or more goals, and scoring them early should reduce the chance of another late upset. The Steelers’ defensive line is generally pretty solid but there are occasional nerve-wracking moments when keeper Hwang In-jae is caught way off his line. Anyang’s Thomas is exactly the sort of player who could take advantage of any lapse in concentration or mistimed move to nab an equalizer or put Pohang on the back foot. Having the advantage in this match could be just as much about the timing of the goals as the goals themselves.
FC Anyang 1-2 Pohang Steelers
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