South Korea vs Mexico Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

16 years ago South Korea were the talk of the footballing world as the host nation went on an unexpected rampage on the familiar turf. They qualified from the group stages easily, beating both Poland and Portugal in the process. Shockingly, they knocked out Italy and Spain to reach the semi finals, only to be eliminated in their 1-0 loss to Germany.

Unsurprisingly, they have never quite hit the same heights as that dream summer. They lost 1-0 to Sweden in their opening game of the 2018 World Cup, and that result made it seven World Cup games on the bounce without a win. They have lost five of these, and with Mexico and Germany still to face off with, you wouldn’t expect that run to end anytime soon.

Unfortunately for South Korea, they can’t even look back on a good performance on Monday. They barely made a dent in the Swedish defence, ending the game with just two shots registered and none on target. Son Heung-min, one of the stars of Tottenham this season, was largely anonymous throughout the match.

Mexico were the polar opposite to their Asian opponents. They faced the much more difficult prospect of a clash with reigning world champions Germany, but right from the start they looked threatening to an unusually vulnerable German defence. Joachim Low’s side simply seemed incapable of containing Mexico when they broke, and they got their reward ten minutes before the break as Hirving Lozano coolly slotted it past Manuel Neuer after a fantastic assist from Javier Hernandez.

Lozano is fast becoming a household name for football fans. The 22 year old PSV attacker enjoyed a breakout season in Eredivisie and has carried that form into his international appearances. He topped the Mexican scoring charts in World Cup qualifying and now has eight international goals to his name, and we think he’s a great price to add to that tally on Saturday.

As far as the overall result goes it’s hard to see beyond a Mexico win here, and the odds seem extremely generous considering the polarity between the nations’ performances. We’re backing a Mexico win here, and considering South Korea failed to get a single shot on target against Sweden and Mexico have kept a clean sheet in six of their last eight games, a Mexico Win to Nil bet looks good too, along with a 2-0 correct score predictions.

South Korea Predicted Lineup: Cho, Y. Lee, Jang, Y. Kim, M. Kim, Ki, J. Lee, Koo, Hwang, Son, S. Kim

Mexico Predicted Lineup: Ochoa, Salcedo, Ayala, Moreno, Gallardo, Herrera, Guardado, Layun, Vela, Lozano, Hernandez