V.League 1 round 5 preview: Ninh Bình defend top spot as CAHN chase a return

Vietnam's top division, the LPBank V.League 1, plays its fifth round from Thursday 22 October to Sunday 25 October, and the margins at both ends of the table are thin enough for every result to count. Ninh Bình lead on 10 points, one ahead of defending champions Công an Hà Nội (CAHN), with Sông Lam Nghệ An (SLNA) third on eight. At the bottom, Thể Công Viettel have lost three in a row and newly promoted Thành phố Đồng Nai are still waiting for a first win.

Round 5 schedule

Kickoff times, venues and broadcasters are as published by VPF, the company that runs Vietnam's professional leagues. All times are Vietnam time (ICT, UTC+7).

The title race

CAHN open the round at home to Thanh Hóa on Thursday night and would move back above Ninh Bình, at least for a few days, with a win. Mano Polking's side lost top spot after a 1-2 defeat by Hà Nội in last weekend's derby; we previewed Thursday's game on 20 October.

Ninh Bình have to wait until 18:00 on Sunday, when they host Công an TP.HCM (7 points) in the fixture Thanh Niên calls the centrepiece of the round. The leaders came from behind to beat Hoàng Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) 4-3 despite playing a man short, although both VPF and Thanh Niên point to the three goals they conceded. A win would lift the visitors level with Ninh Bình on points, Thanh Niên notes. According to Bongda24h, both sides lose a player to a red-card ban: Lucas Henrique Turci for Ninh Bình and Nguyễn Đức Phú for the visitors.

SLNA, the only other unbeaten team with two wins and two draws, visit HAGL in Pleiku on Friday afternoon. VPF reads their 2-2 draw in Hà Tĩnh as a warning about protecting leads, while HAGL, on three points, are without defender Võ Phước Bảo. Harry Kewell's Hà Nội, winners of their last two, travel to SHB Đà Nẵng, who have let in eight goals in their last two defeats. Hà Tĩnh (7) host Hải Phòng (6), who won 5-1 in Đà Nẵng but have conceded in all four games so far.

Pressure at the bottom

Thể Công Viettel, 11th on three points, host Bắc Ninh (10th, four points) on Friday after successive defeats by CAHN, Hà Tĩnh and Công an TP.HCM. Bongdaplus argues that coach Velizar Popov's position will come under further strain without a win; that is the paper's assessment, not a club statement.

Đồng Nai are bottom with one point and, according to VPF, have yet to score in four matches. They host Nam Định (7), who won 2-0 at Thanh Hóa last time out, and Bongdaplus says Đồng Nai coach Nguyễn Việt Thắng is also under pressure. Bongda24h reports that Nam Định are missing foreign players Ezequiel Santos Da Silva and Romulo Da Silva Machado, while Đồng Nai are without Huỳnh Tấn Sinh and Lê Văn Sơn. The full list of eight suspended players, including CAHN defender Đoàn Văn Hậu, is in our 20 October report.

Standings before round 5

Source: KBVN+ standings data after round 4. Only one point separates the six teams from fourth to ninth, so the middle of the table could look very different by Sunday night.

What comes next

Round 6 starts on 30 October and brings two meetings between leading sides: SLNA host CAHN in Vinh at 18:00 on 31 October, and Hà Nội host Ninh Bình at Hàng Đẫy at 19:15 on 1 November (Vietnam time). Standings and results are updated on our V.League 1 page.