Will South Korea take advantage of the Black Stars’ defensive weaknesses?
Sometimes it’s a little easier to place the right bet in a World Cup match. But there are also games where it is more complicated to find the right tendency. It is also difficult to place a correct bet on the match between South Korea and Ghana. But both teams have to score on Monday to keep their chances of making the play-offs open.
Ahead of the second matchday, the standings in Group H are as follows. Portugal are the only team to have won their opening match and are three points clear at the top of the table. The Portuguese could clinch a place in the last 16 with a win against Uruguay. The Urus and South Korea drew and are in joint second place.
The pressure is on the Black Stars from Ghana. After losing 3-2 to Portugal, the Africans still have no points. Otto Addo’s team, however, still has everything in its own hands. With a win on Sunday, they could perhaps move up to second place. However, we would tend not to predict a victory for the Africans in the clash between South Korea and Ghana.
The Black Stars proved too vulnerable against the Portuguese. Especially when they were forced to act offensively, there were some gaps in the defence. Against the Koreans, Ghana will have to do a bit more going forward from the start. Based on impressions so far, this could prove to be a boomerang that plays more into the Asian side’s favour.
South Korea – statistics & current form
For big teams, this might not be an issue in the form, but South Korea have not conceded a goal in their last two World Cup matches (2018 vs Germany, 2022 vs Uruguay). However, those were the third and first group games respectively. The Taegeuk Warriors’ problem, however, has been the second game in all World Cups.
The curse of the second group game
The South Koreans have competed in ten World Cups so far, but they have not won the second group game once. On the other hand, they do very well against African teams on the world stage. The Koreans have always scored twice against Africans, with the only win coming against Togo in 2006. They drew 2-2 with Nigeria in 2012 and lost 4-2 to Algeria in 2014.
Despite this, we are looking at the odds for less than 2.5 goals ahead of the clash between South Korea and Ghana. This is because the Kim back four (all four players are named Kim), stood very firm against Uruguay and hardly allowed any scoring chances. However, Paulo Bento’s team hardly created any chances themselves and the match consequently ended in a goalless draw.
Defensively, there is no reason to change the formation. But maybe the Portuguese coach of the South Koreans will change something in attack. Surprisingly, the coach completely dispensed with Hee-Chan Hwang in the game against Uruguay. It is conceivable that he will get his chance against Ghana, but perhaps only in the course of the game.
Predicted line-up of South Korea:
Seung-Gyu Kim – Jin-Su Kim, Young-Gwon Kim, Min-Jae Kim, Moon-Hwan Kim – Woo-Young Jung, In-Beom Hwang, Jae-Sung Lee – Heung-Min Son, Sang-Ho Na, Ui-Jo Hwang – Coach. Bento
Last matches played by South Korea:
World Cup Group H
24/11/2022 – Uruguay 0 – 0 South Korea
Friendly matches
11/11/2022 – South Korea 1 – 0 Iceland
27/09/2022 – South Korea 1 – 0 Cameroon
23/09/2022 – South Korea 2 – 2 Costa Rica
East Asian Championship
27/07/2022 – Japan 3 – 0 South Korea
Ghana – Statistics & current form
There are not many African teams that are more consistent in taking their scoring chances at World Cups like the Black Stars. In their last six World Cup matches, Ghana have always scored at least once. Otto Addo’s team must now build on that success against South Korea on Sunday.
Without a win in five World Cup matches
There lies the problem, though, as Ghana are scoring regularly but have been without a win for five World Cup matches. The big hope here is their captain Andre Ayew. The son of Ghana’s football legend Abedi Pele has scored three times in the last four World Cup matches. It is therefore possible that the Al-Sadd attacker will also score a goal in the match between South Korea and Ghana.
In their opening match against Portugal, the Ghanaians mainly had problems in defence, which they mainly confined themselves to. After the 0:1 they also started to set offensive accents. It was Andre Ayew who was responsible for the equaliser. Portugal, however, stepped up the pace and took a 3:1 lead. Osman Bukari scored the equaliser and they almost managed to make it 3-3 in the long injury time. But to be honest, it would not have been deserved.
Otto Addo will now have to find a balance on Monday and already act offensively without neglecting the defence. However, the Black Stars might also stand deep again and only provide pinpricks at times. Personnel changes in the starting eleven are possible, but not likely for the time being. Perhaps Freiburg’s Daniel-Kofi Kyereh will get a bit more playing time against South Korea.
Predicted line-up of Ghana:
Zigi – Baba, Amartey, Djiku, Salisu, Seidu – Partey, Abdul Samed, Kudus – Williams, A. Ayew – Coach: Addo
Last matches played by Ghana:
World Cup Group H
24/11/2022 – Portugal 3 – 2 Ghana
Friendlies
17/11/2022 – Switzerland 0 – 2 Ghana
28/09/2022 – Nicaragua 0 – 1 Ghana
24/09/2022 – Brazil 3 – 0 Ghana
African Nations Championship Qualification
03/09/2022 – Nigeria (4)2 – 0(5) Ghana
South Korea – Ghana Direct Comparison / H2H Record
The national teams from South Korea and Ghana have not yet faced each other in a competitive match. However, they have met six times for a friendly match. There has never been a draw between these two teams and yet the direct comparison is even. Both teams secured three victories each.
The last meeting was in June 2014, when both teams were preparing for the World Cup in Brazil. In Miami, the Black Stars won surprisingly well and had the upper hand with 4-0. The man of the match was Jordan Ayew, who scored three goals to almost single-handedly defeat the South Koreans. Asamoah Gyan was responsible for the Africans’ fourth goal.
South Korea – Ghana Tip
A lot is at stake for both opponents in this second group match. However, the South Koreans have never won the second match in their ten World Cup appearances. Ghana has been waiting for a win for five World Cup matches. The statistics are more in favour of a draw, but we don’t go along with that, even if a draw cannot be completely ruled out.
We think that the Taegeuk Warriors will again be very solid defensively in this duel, but consider the Black Stars’ defence to be vulnerable. That speaks more in favour of the Asians. However, the Africans should not get involved in an open exchange of blows, because Heung-Min Son and Co. are too fast and too strong in their finishing for that.
However, we still have some doubts, because it already became clear against Portugal that the Africans have their qualities when their backs are against the wall. Therefore, we have to see that we reduce the risk a bit, and therefore we have decided to place the betting odds on a Korean victory with DNB between South Korea and Ghana.
