South Korea and Bahrain get their respective Asian Cup journeys underway with a meeting at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Monday afternoon.

The teams have been drawn in Group E of the tournament, where they are joined by Malaysia and Jordan in the battle for a place in the knockout phase.

Match preview

South Korea wrapped up their preparations for the Asian Cup with a narrow 1-0 victory over Iraq at the New York University Stadium on Saturday.

Jurgen Klinsmann's men took the lead five minutes shy of half time through Jae-Sung Lee, and that proved to be the all-important moment in a tight affair.

Consequently, the Tigers of Asia have now come out on top in each of their last six matches across all competitions dating back to September.

Awaiting them next is the task of facing off against an opposing outfit who boast just one victory from the previous six editions of this fixture.

Having made a winning start to each of their most recent three Asian Cup campaigns, South Korea will be keen to lay down an early marker as they go in search of continental supremacy.

Bahrain were on the receiving end of a 3-0 thrashing against the Black Sable antelopes of Angola at the Police Officers Stadium on Wednesday.

Off the back of a drab opening 45 minutes, second-half goals from Dala Gelson, Agostinho Mabululu and Nurio Fortuna put Helio Sousa's men to the sword.

That was a third straight defeat for the Pearl Divers since they claimed a 2-0 win over Yemen in the preliminary stages of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

More worryingly for Bahrain, they have also failed to find the back of the net in that time and will need to get going at the top end of the pitch to avoid an early exit from the Asian Cup.

Team News

Son Heung-Min and Kim Min-Jae were second-half substitutes against Iraq last time out, but both will be expected to feature right from the off here.

Despite receiving a sending-off in the aforementioned game, midfielder Kang-in Lee is eligible to play a part for his country in this one.

Ibrahim Lutfalla has established himself as the starting goalkeeper for Bahrain and is largely expected to retain his place between the sticks.

Thirty-year-old Abdulla Yusuf Helal is closing in on a century of international appearances as he prepares to rack up his 97th cap on Monday.

South Korea possible starting lineup:
Kim; Park, Seol, Kim, Jung; Jeong, Lee, Hong, Hwang; Son, Oh

Bahrain possible starting lineup:
Lutfalla; Al Hayam, Benaddi, Bughammar, Adel; Madan, Al-Aswad, Al-Shaikh; Helal, Al-Humaidan, Al-Hashsash

We say: South Korea 3-0 Bahrain

There is a huge gulf in class between the teams, and South Korea are huge favourites to secure maximum points here. We fully fancy them to cruise to all three points in what should be a largely one-sided affair.


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