World Cup 2022: UAE Have Their Fingers Crossed Against South Korea

United Arab Emirates vs Korea Republic

UAE’s World Cup 2022 hopes have dimmed significantly and they’ll face their biggest obstacle yet when they’ll host South Korea this Monday at the Al-Maktoum Stadium.

South Korea and Iran have both earned their spots in Qatar as they’re the top two nations in Group A of the third round, while a fourth round berth is up for grabs and it’ll be given to the third-placed side.

As of the moment, UAE are trying to hold on to the final fourth round spot as Iraq and Lebanon are right behind them, ready to pounce on the opportunity when it presents itself. Iraq have a winnable game against Syria while Lebanon have a tough match against Iran.

Needless to say that this is a make-or-break situation for UAE, but they are optimistic that they can be competitive against the Taeguk Warriors again given what happened when the last two nations met.

Talking Points

UAE’s play-off hopes hanging in the balance

Since their earlier loss against South Korea, it felt like UAE were about to turn the corner with consecutive victories over Lebanon and Syria. However, back-to-back defeats against Iran and Iraq have put them back in a bad position.

Amid their slump, UAE curiously changed their head coach as Bert van Marwijk was replaced by Rodolfo Arruabarrena and Monday is going to be the Argentine’s first game at the helm for UAE.

The Argentine now faces a big challenge on his hands but he’s a proven winner who boasts an impressive CV.

Arruabarrena had stints with Al Wasl and Shabab Al Ahli where he turned them into domestic contenders while winning several trophies in the process, including the League Cup and President’s Cup during his time in Qatar.

Unfortunately for the new coach, he’ll won’t have a full deck ahead of Monday against the Taeguk Warriors.

UAE will be without a number of key players such as first-choice goalkeeper Ali Khaseif, suspended midfielders Abdullah Ramadan and Tahnoon Al Zaabi, and injured attackers Fabio de Lima and Sebastian Tagliabue.

Ali Mabkhout, who is their all-time leading scorer, is set for a return to lead their front line. However, he hasn’t been at his best lately and he’ll need to regain his form fast.

Korea Republic aim to finish strong

After a shaky start in the qualifiers, South Korea have finally turned the corner and now they’re considered as one of the most dangerous teams in Asia.

Their attack and defence have been clicking lately, and now that they’re officially qualified for Qatar, their main objective for this contest is to build some momentum starting with another victory over UAE.

South Korea’s COVID-19 cases may have been increasing lately which has affected their 25-man pool. But fortunately, they still have the star duo of Heung-Min Son and Hwang Hee-Chan available on Monday.

Heung-Min Son and Hwang Hee-Chan have maintained their top form in the Premier League this term as the former bagged a brace in Tottenham’s 3-1 win over West Ham, while the latter is the Wolves’ third-leading scorer with five goals so far.

History

South Korea have been the superior side over UAE in their head-to-heads. Prior to Monday, these nations have met 22 times where the Koreans have won 13 times while UAE have won just twice along with seven draws.

Despite South Korea’s dominance against UAE, the latter was able to give the former a scare during their reverse fixture last November, although the Taeguk Warriors were bailed out by Hwang Hee-Chan’s lone goal.

Before the 2022 qualifiers, South Korea and UAE have faced off four times in the qualifying from 2008 to 2011 where the Taeguk Warriors won all four of their encounters.

Betting Tip

Here in our SBOTOP World Cup 2022 odds, we give South Korea the slim edge in winning this contest. The Taeguk Warriors are priced at 2.03, while UAE are installed at 3.15 and chances for a draw are at 3.25 in the 1X2 market.

When these two sides last met, it was a grinded-out win for South Korea. But now that they’re rounding into form, we reckon that they can produce more World Cup 2022 highlights for this fixture – making Over 2.00 @ 1.72 an alternative bet worth considering. A victory by the Taeguk Warriors would put a huge dent on UAE’s qualification hopes, and it’s likely that their three-decade World Cup drought will continue for the time being – especially if Iraq takes care of business against Syria.

 

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