South Korea vs Germany
World Cup Group F
Date: Wednesday, 27 June 2018
Kick-Off at 15:00 UK / 16:00 CET
Venue: Kazan’ Arena.
Germany managed to get their title defense campaign back on track coming from behind to see off the stern Swedish side on Saturday evening in Sochi. They now need to beat Korea Republic in order to progress from what is proving out to be quite a challenging Group F.
- Germany restored the title defense hopes with a single swing from Toni Kroos who bagged the match-winner late in the stoppage time against Sweden.
- They need a victory over the group underdogs Korea Republic in the last round to move into the next round.
- Korea Republic still have theoretical hopes of saving the World Cup hopes alive, but they need a miracle here.
South Korea vs Germany Match Preview
The reigning champions saved their World Cup in the blink of an eye thanks to Real Madrid’s Toni Kroos whose beautifully-taken strike sealed them a massive three-pointer on Saturday night at Olympic Stadium Fisht.
Joachim Low and the entire German population can breathe easier ahead of the final round’s tie with Korea Republic who still have theoretical hopes of reaching the last 16 round in spite of back-to-back defeats to Swede and Mexico.
The Asian outfit actually made it four losses on the bounce at World Cups, their joint-worst streak at the competition, following the one back from 1996-1990 campaigns. Shin Tae-Yong’s troops will have a massive task to stop it on Wednesday when they are about to take on one of the main contenders for the crown.
Koreans certainly showed somewhat better performance in the second round, comparing it to the poor display on the opening day when they hardly even challenged the Swedish goal.
Their star man, Son Heung-Min had as many as nine shot on goal, six in the first half alone, but sadly for the Koreans, only one found the back of the net.
Korea’s maiden goal at this World Cup proved out to be only a consolation one, coming late in the stoppage time as it turned out to count for nothing.
South Korea vs Germany Team News and Predicted Line-ups
South Korea Team News
- Shin Tae-Yong made two changes in the centre of the park for the second round tie with Mexico.
- Mun Seon-Min and Ju Se-Jong were introduced to refresh the right flank of their attack, but neither of them actually brought the much-needed refreshment.
- Still, Koreans did show a much more encouraging display overall in the 4-2-3-1 formation against El Tri, with Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min leading the line.
- We should expect such strategy to be applied against Germany as well.
Korea Republic Predicted Starting Eleven (4-2-3-1)
Hyun-Woo – Min Woo, Young-Gwon, Hyun Soo, Lee Yong – Ju Sae-Jong, Ki Sung-yueng – Hee Chan, Jae Sung, Seon-Min – Son.
Germany Team News
- Low was clearly anything but satisfied after the initial loss to Mexico, making four changes to that side ahead of the second round’s clash with Sweden.
- Matts Hummels missed out through injury, while Jonas Hector replaced Marvin Plattenhardt and Sami Khedira gave place to and Sebastian Rudy.
- The highlight was the omission of Mesut Ozil out, the first international game the play-maker missed at a major tournament (World Cup, EURO) since making the debut back in 2010.
- Reus who got the nod ahead of Ozil and scored the team’s equalizer against Sweden is likely to keep his place in the starting eleven.
- The bad news for German fans is that Sebastian Rudy is out with a broken nose, while Boateng received a red card in the closing stages of the match against Sweden.
- Good news is for Matts Hummels is back in training and fit enough to start alongside Antonio Rudiger.
- While it will be interesting to see if Low opt to go with Gundogan or Sami Khedira to replace Rudi to partner Toni Kroos in the centre of the park.
- Meantime, Julian Draxler’s place in the starting eleven is under threat with Julian Brandt impressing in cameos against both Mexico and Sweden.
- Draxler could lose his place if the German tactician choose to play Werner on the wings and start with target man Mario Gomez.
Germany Predicted Starting Eleven (4-2-3-1)
Neuer – Kimmich, Hummels, Rudiger, Hector – Gundogan, Kroos – Muller, Reus, Draxler – Werner.
South Korea vs Germany Head-to-head
Korea Republic and Germany are about to take on each other for the fourth time ever on Wednesday.
It will be their third clash at World Cups, Germany winning last two, back in 1994 and 2002. Both of these victories were only narrow ones, 3-2 in the United States and 1-0 in South Korea.
Interestingly, the Asians came on top in the previous encounter with Germany. It was a friendly played back in December 2004 when the Koreans saw off the mixed line-up of Germany 3-1 on the home soil.
South Korea vs Germany Predictions
Joachim Low made four changes to the squad that lost the initial affair to Mexico. Mario Gomez left a decent impact after coming on from the bench after the interval against the Scandinavians, but we still expect to see Timo Werner starting the clash with Korea Republic.
The quality is no doubts on Germany’s side and we’d not be surprised to see them snatch a demolishing victory, encouraged by the magnificent comeback against the Swedes.
The Koreans offered very little of the high-profile showing against both Sweden and Mexico and it’s really hard to believe they could do it in the last round affair when they take on Die Mannschaft.
The Germans should be in full control from the get go and we expect them to break the deadlock early on and open up the way to a comfortable confidence-boosting victory ahead of the last 16 round action.
You can have Germany to have the lead at the half time and win the match at the end at 1.67, while Die Mannschaft are 1.57 to win by two or more goals difference.
Predicted Full-Time Result is a comprehensive victory for Germany who are to book their place in the knockout stage against Korea Republic.
South Korea vs Germany Betting Tips
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HT/FT Germany/Germany @ 1.67.
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Germany -1.5 handicap @ 1.65 odd.
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Correct FT Score: 3-0 Germany @ 7.50.
