South Korea vs Singapore Prediction: Teams are meeting after 30 years

South Korea will welcome Singapore at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Game Week 1 of the FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. Singapore are the underdogs in this group and South Korea are the favourites. Who will come out on top after 90 minutes?

Since their 4-1 loss to Brazil in the World Cup last 16 last year, South Korea has faced numerous challenges. They endured a five-match winless streak in friendly internationals, failing to defeat teams like Peru and El Salvador. However, Jurgen Klinsmann is finally seeing some progress from his players, with three consecutive victories since September. They have defeated Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Vietnam, keeping clean sheets in the process, and ended their last game with a 6-0 scoreline. Klinsmann's team is now on a five-match undefeated streak as they head into a series of competitive matches for the World Cup qualifiers and the Asian Cup. 

Klinsmann has the option to select most of the players who started the friendly against Tunisia, with the added advantage of having Son Heung-min leading the attack. The fitness of the European players will be evaluated, especially those who played on Sunday. However, if the situation allows, Klinsmann may choose to field a strong team and rest some players. Kim Min-jae and Hwang Hee-chan, both in good form for Bayern Munich and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively, are expected to start in central defense and on the left flank.

The potential starting lineup for South Korea is Kim Seong-Gyu; Seol, Kim Min-Jae, Jung, Lee-Ki; Hong, Park; Lee Jae-Sung, Lee Kang-In, Hwang; Son

Singapore enters this qualifying phase with confidence after overcoming Guan in the first round with a 3-1 aggregate victory. They are currently on a three-match winning streak and have only lost once in their last eight matches, which was against Tajikistan. In this qualifying campaign, Singapore has already won as many games as they did in the 2022 equivalent, and their coach, Takayuki Nishigaya, will aim to improve on that performance in a tough group. 

Nishigaya is unlikely to make any changes to the Singapore starting lineup after their recent wins against Guam. However, there is a possibility of veteran Shahdan Sulaiman joining the midfield to form a three-man midfield, resulting in one of the attacking trio from the previous match being replaced.

For Singapore, the possible starting lineup is Sunny; Kumar, Tan, Mahler; Suzliman, Harun, Shahiran, Van Huizen; Syahin, Fandi, Song.

It has been more than 30 years since these two nations last faced each other, and Singapore has lost their last 10 encounters against South Korea. Despite South Korea possibly having their sights set on their trip to China, they must first focus on taking care of business in this match. Regardless of the team's strength, the home side is expected to have enough quality to secure a comfortable victory.