A first win at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup is the target as South Korea host Ghana in a Group H fixture on Monday. Both teams are likely to serve up an open contest which is expected to produce goals.
South Korea began their campaign at the 2022 FIFA World Cup by playing out a 0-0 draw with Uruguay in their opening fixture. They showed plenty of enterprise and attacking verve but ultimately lacked the cutting edge in the final third.
While South Korea would have liked to claim the win, the draw means they are have now suffered just one defeat in their last nine matches across all competitions. Paulo Bento’s men have claimed six wins in that run.
South Korea have also beaten two African teams in their recent run of results. They claimed a 4-1 victory over Egypt back in June before edging out Cameroon in another international friendly in September.
Ghana suffered a 3-2 defeat to Portugal in their opening Group H future. Andre Ayew and Osman Bukari were on target as they were stopped just short of an impressive fightback after going behind to the former European Champions.
Although he will be disappointed with the result, manager Otto Addo will be keen to focus on the positives. The Ghanaians impressed in the second half and were the only African team to score in the first round of matches.
While Ghana’s overall performance deserved some praise, their defensive display was not up to scratch. There were constant spaces in behind the back line which could be exploited by the pace of the Korean attack.
How the bookies view it
South Korea have the edge among the bookies and are priced at 13/8 by bet365 to claim the win. A victory for Ghana is valued at 2/1 with William Hill while Unibet is offering odds of 43/20 for a draw.
Head to head
Ghana have a 3-1 advantage from four previous matches against South Korea. The most recent meeting was a Friendly in 2014 with the West Africans claiming a 4-0 victory with Jordan Ayew netting a hat-trick.
Players to watch
Son Heung-Min remains the biggest attacking threat for South Korea and looked lively in the opening fixture. The forward has four goals in his last six international matches and is priced at 21/10 by Paddy Power to find the net on Monday.
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Andre Ayew netted the first goal for Ghana in the opening fixture and could be worth keeping an eye on. Paddy Power has the attacker at odds of 16/5 to get on the score sheet on Monday.
Anything else catch the eye?
An open contest is expected on Monday, so the goals market is likely to provide some value. Both teams could be backed to score at 27/25 with Unibet, who is also offering 6/4 for over 2.5 goals while over 3.5 goals is valued at 4/1 by BetVictor.
South Korea have opened the scoring in two of their last three matches and could be tipped to grab the first goal on Monday at 21/20 with BoyleSports.
This World Cup match between South Korea and Ghana will be played on and kick off at 13:00. Check below for our tipsters best South Korea vs Ghana prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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