Kick-off: 1500, 02/12/2022
Stadium: Education City Stadium
TV: BBC2
Portugal only need a point to clinch top spot in Group H but are fancied to advance in style by proving too strong for South Korea.
Fernando Santos has plenty of useful fringe players who will be keen to press their claims for more action during the knockout rounds.
In what could be an entertaining encounter, we like 7/5 for the Navigators to win and over 2.5 goals in the game for our first South Korea vs Portugal prediction.
South Korea Odds
South Korea have been involved in two contrasting contests, drawing 0-0 with Uruguay before going down 3-2 to Ghana in a thriller at this venue.
On Monday, Cho Gue-sung scored twice in three second-half minutes to cancel out opening-period strikes by Mohammed Salisu and Mohammed Kudus.
However, Kudus fired the Black Stars back in front on 68 minutes and the Taegeuk Warriors couldn’t capitalise on lots of late pressure.
Paulo Bento’s side had 22 attempts on goal in that clash and enjoyed 63 per cent of the possession but failed to make it count.
“I believe we should be sad and feel a lack of justice at the end of this match,” moaned Bento, who was in charge of his home country Portugal at the 2014 World Cup.
“The result is totally unfair. Not even a tie was fair. We clearly deserved the win.”
South Korea always play with spirit but it just hasn’t happened for them out in Qatar.
Looking at the South Korea vs Portugal odds, we like 7/2 for a 2-1, 3-1 or 4-1 European triumph.
Portugal Odds
Portugal were sloppy at times during a 3-2 success versus Ghana but there was a lot more to like about their 2-0 defeat of Uruguay.
Bruno Fernandes was credited with the 54th-minute opener after his cross evaded everyone, including Cristiano Ronaldo’s attempted header, and curled in.
The Manchester United midfielder made sure of victory with a stoppage-time penalty and went close to completing a hat-trick when hitting the post.
Santos will almost certainly look to freshen up his team and allow some key players to rest, but Fernandes insists the desire is there to maintain their momentum.
He stated: “The importance of us being first in the group includes us winning the next game, which would allow us to come out of the group undefeated. That is what we want.
“We have a very organised team ahead of us on Friday and our objective is to take it match by match.”
AC Milan ace Rafael Leao has really caught the eye as a second-half substitute in both matches to date, hitting the target versus Ghana and repeatedly getting forward with pace and power.
The 23-year-old was a regular scorer at youth levels and has netted 29 times in 109 appearances for Milan, including six goals in 14 Serie A outings this season.
He can be backed at 11/2 to break the deadlock here or 5/2 to score at any time in a win for the Navigators, both of which are added to our South Korea vs Portugal betting tips.
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