Unlike the K League 1 scoring leaderboard, which is narrowed down to a two-way tie between Lee In-gyu (Ulsan) and Tiago (Daejeon), the assist leaderboard is a close one.
The current leader in assists is Baek-Seong-dong (Pohang) with eight. However, on August 20, he recorded eight assists against Daejeon Hana Citizens (Pohang 4-3 win), but was injured. On September 30, he came on as a second-half substitute in the 32nd round East Coast Derby against Ulsan Hyundai (0-0 draw), but stepped on the ground a bit too much.
Baek is currently being diagnosed with a suspected torn meniscus in his right knee. He will be vital to Pohang’s defense of second place in the league, but his availability for the remaining two league games is uncertain.
In the meantime, four or seven others have filled in to form the second-best group. Leandro (Daejeon-23 games), who has played the fewest games, is ranked second, joined by his teammates Kim Seung-dae (34 games) and Zeca (36 games). Gwangju’s Doo Hyun-seok (36 games) also has seven. Sixth in the category is Incheon’s Jerso (6), who has two games remaining to make a serious run at the title. 무지개토토 도메인
This season’s Help King could be the first “single-digit title” since the inception of the split round in 2013. This is because there are currently only seven or eight leaders with two games remaining. In the past 10 seasons, the minimum number of players who have won the Assist King title is 10, with three: Lee Seung-ki (then Jeonbuk) in 2014, Moon Sun-min (Jeonbuk) in 2019, and Kim Bo-kyung (Jeonbuk) in 2021. The most was 17 by Yeom Ki-hoon (Suwon Samsung) in 2015, when he appeared in 35 games and dished out 17 assists, good for 0.49 per game.
