Wales vs South Korea predictions: Visitors could extend lean spell for Wales

James Milton
Spotlight
Jurgen Klinsmann is eyeing his first win since taking charge of South Korea
Jurgen Klinsmann is eyeing his first win since taking charge of South Korea

- Wales have lost seven of their last 10 internationals
- Both teams have scored in six of South Korea's last seven games
- Recommended bet: Draw

Wales are targeting a morale-boosting friendly victory over South Korea in Cardiff after a patchy start to their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.

Rob Page's men, who suffered a disappointing group-stage exit at the 2022 World Cup, took four points from their March qualifiers against Croatia and Latvia but then lost 4-2 at home to Armenia and 2-0 away to Turkey in June.

Thursday's visitors South Korea are chasing a first win under manager Jurgen Klinsmann, who has overseen draws with Colombia and El Salvador and narrow defeats to Uruguay and Peru in his first four matches in charge.

Team news

Heung-Min Son heads into the game in fine scoring form
Heung-Min Son heads into the game in fine scoring form

Wales are missing injured defender Tom Lockyer and forward Daniel James. Rabbi Matondo of Rangers has been added to the squad and Tom King, Morgan Fox and Liam Cullen are hoping to make their international debuts.

South Korea captain Heung-Min Son should start after scoring a hat-trick in Tottenham's Premier League win at Burnley last weekend. However, Paris Saint-Germain winger Lee Kang-in is sidelined due to a thigh injury.

The stats

Wales have lost seven of their last 10 internationals and have failed to score in four of their last five defeats.

Three of the last six friendlies involving Wales have ended 0-0.

Two of South Korea's last three wins were by a 1-0 scoreline, while five of their last six matches featured a goal in the 11th minute or earlier.

Both teams have scored in six of South Korea's last seven games.

Prediction

Two teams in need of a positive result meet in Thursday's friendly at the Cardiff City Stadium, where the draw looks the best bet.

Wales, so strong at home in recent years, suffered a shock 4-2 defeat to Armenia in June's Euro 2024 qualifier and they may struggle to get back to winning ways after a run of seven losses in 10 games.

South Korea showed their quality at last year's World Cup, qualifying for the last 16 thanks to a dramatic 2-1 win over Portugal before losing 4-1 to Brazil.

Star defender Kim Ming-jae of Bayern Munich and in-form Spurs forward Son should feature against Wales, who have drawn their last three friendlies against the Czech Republic, Finland and Albania.

Aaron Ramsey has made a bright start to his return to Cardiff in this season's Championship but scoring goals remains a problem for Wales boss Page in the post-Gareth Bale era.

A Bale penalty was their only strike in World Cup group games against the USA, Iran and England while they needed a 93rd-minute equaliser from Nathan Broadhead in Croatia in March before edging past Latvia 1-0.

South Korea's players will be keen to impress their coach Klinsmann and these well-matched teams could prove hard to separate on Thursday.

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Tags

WalesSouth KoreaInternational Friendlies