Ha Tinh (27 points) beat CAHN Club 1-0 and HAGL (26 points) drew 1-1 in the 22nd round of V-League on May 30, pushing SLNA (25 points) to the second-to-last position. This development also caused Khanh Hoa to receive an early ticket to relegation, even though they have not yet played.

Khanh Hoa is currently at the bottom of the V-League standings with 10 points, 15 points behind the second-to-last place SLNA. In case Khanh Hoa wins all matches and SLNA loses all in the remaining 5 matches and both sides have 25 points, the coastal city team will still be relegated due to inferior head-to-head record.

According to V-League regulations, head-to-head record is the first sub-index considered in case two teams have the same number of points. This season, Khanh Hoa lost to SLNA 0-1 in the first leg and 1-2 in the second leg.

If Khanh Hoa is relegated early, the race to escape the play-off spot is getting intense. The gap between SLNA's second-to-last position and Ha Tinh's 10th position is only 2 points.

In the match series on May 31, SLNA will visit Nam Dinh at 6:00 p.m. and Khanh Hoa will meet Hanoi FC at 7:15 p.m.