Round 20 of V.League 2024/25 is considered a tense period for clubs as they approach the finish line. Both relegation and championship are unpredictable.

The earliest 2 matches will take place on Friday (April 25).

The tournament has entered the exciting “finish line” phase with many unexpected and complicated developments. In the top group, can Nam Dinh Steel Blue defend its “throne” when Hanoi FC is close behind? The race for the top 3 has 6 competing teams, and the relegation race is also unpredictable with at least 3 names in the danger zone…

At Thong Nhat Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City FC, the team that has just had a series of 3 consecutive draws, will face the team that is considered the hardest to beat in the tournament – Hong Linh Ha Tinh . Interestingly, these are also 2 of the 3 teams (the other team is Song Lam Nghe An) that have had the most draws up to this point. Ha Tinh has 13 draws and Ho Chi Minh City has 10.

Notably, for the home team, both of their last two draws were away from home against strong candidates, Nam Dinh Steel and Hanoi Police. Meanwhile, Ha Tinh just defeated Hoang Anh Gia Lai in Pleiku to temporarily rise to 6th place, and regain their chance to compete for the top 3 when they are only 2 points behind Thanh Hoa.

Two teams with tight playing styles and high efficiency meeting each other promises to be an interesting and unpredictable battle of wits (first leg ended in a 1-1 draw at Ha Tinh Stadium) between two coaches of the same age (Phung Thanh Phuong and Nguyen Thanh Cong).

After 3 consecutive matches of stagnation (2 draws, 1 loss), The Cong returned to Hang Day Stadium to welcome Song Lam Nghe An (19 points, temporarily ranked 3rd from the bottom) with the goal of nothing more than 3 points. The 1-3 loss to Thanh Hoa in round 19 caused coach Duc Thang and his team to temporarily lose the 3rd place to the Thanh team due to inferior sub-index.

Song Lam Nghe An is also full of determination to accumulate more points in the relegation race. That has been shown in the last 5 unbeaten matches of the Nghe army (1 win, 4 draws) and Song Lam Nghe An is also 1 of 3 teams with the most draws in the tournament (10 matches) up to this point.

With limited strength and no stars in the attack, Song Lam Nghe An also chose a style of play that focused on efficiency in defense. One of the valuable “lessons” of coach Phan Nhu Thuat and his team was the shocking 0-5 loss at Vinh Stadium to The Cong in the first leg. There is no doubt about The Cong’s “upper hand”, but Song Lam Nghe An will certainly be very different from themselves in the first leg in this reunion.

Tuan Ngoc

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/hong-linh-ha-tinh-co-gay-bat-ngo-truoc-clb-tp-hcm-post546577.html