On Monday morning, South Korea and Bahrain kick off their Asian Cup campaigns in Group E of the competition.
Jurgen Klinsmann’s team heads into this clash in fine form, as they are not only eight international games unbeaten but have also recorded six straight victories.
One of the strongest facets of South Korea’s game of late has been their excellent defence, as the Taegeuk Warriors have kept seven straight clean sheets.
However, they have also been producing the goods at the other end of the pitch, scoring at least two goals in four of their previous five international outings.
South Korea has a mixed recent record in the Asian Cup, as they have won just three of their last six games in 90 minutes in the competition.
In the 2019 Asian Cup, they suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of 2024 hosts Qatar. They will be looking to improve upon that record this time around.
Juan Antonio Pizzi’s side heads into this clash on the back of two straight 2-0 defeats against UAE and Australia.
However, before the two defeats, Bahrain mounted a four-game unbeaten run, including three wins and a draw.
The two recent defeats continued a low-scoring trend for Bahrain’s recent games, as their last six international matches have all produced under 2.5 goals.
They have a mixed recent record in the Asian Cup but have won just one of their previous four games.
Ironically, their last game in the competition was against Monday’s opponents, as they suffered a 2-0 extra-time defeat in the last-16 in 2019.
Bahrain’s recent Asian Cup matches have been low-scoring, with under 2.5 goals scored in their last four outings in the competition.
Forebet predicts this will be a close-fought encounter, finishing a low-scoring draw.