South Korea head into their final group game knowing that a place in the knockout stages in already in the bag. However they need to beat East Asian Rivals China in order to top the group, a draw won’t be enough. Here is our preview and prediction for this AFC Asian Cup Group Game;
South Korea v China – Preview & Prediction
Who: South Korea vs. China
When: Wednesday January 16th at 5.30pm (Local Time) / 10.30pm (Korea Time)
Where: Al-Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi
South Korea narrowly edged out both the Philippines and Kyrgyzstan 1-0 during their opening two group stage games and struggled to convert chances. However they did look defensively strong. Hwang Ui-jo was the main man in the opening game, but he looked a little off last time out. China started slowly beating Kyrgystan by just a single goal 2-1, but they then eased past the Philippines 3-0 last Friday. Wu Lei and Yu Dabao have been the danger men so far for China and Korea will need to mark them tightly.
H2H Record:
South Korea – 18
Draws – 13
China – 2
Last Time; South Korea 2-2 China during the East Asian Cup in December 2017. Kim Shin-Wook and Lee Jae-Sung scored for Korea on that day.
Prediction:
Overall this could be a chance for both nations to rest a few players and switch things up. I personally see a slightly slow and dull game, which could end either 0-0 or 1-1.
South Korea 1-1 China
Finally
Just quickly here is the South Korea squad for the AFC Asian Cup;
Any thoughts, comments or questions. Feel free to comment below or message me via Twitter.
Modern Seoul 