Ghana stare at the face of elimination from the 2022 World Cup when they face South Korea at the Education City Stadium on Monday. Whilst Ghana succumbed to a heart-breaking 3-2 defeat to Portugal, their Asian counterparts South Korea were held to an unexciting goalless draw by Uruguay.

The Black Stars saw their game against Portugal come alive in the second half with all goals being scored in the last 25 minutes. Cristiano Ronaldo became the first male player to score at five different World Cups after converting from the spot to give Fernando Santos’ men the lead. Joao Felix and Rafael Leao scored on either side of Andre Ayew’s equaliser before Osman Bukari got a consolation goal.

Their result means South Korea have just lost once in their last 10 games and have currently kept three successive clean sheets. Despite putting up a solid defensive performance, Paulo Bento will look to improve his side’s attacking prospects after failing to muster a shot on target against Uruguay.

South Korea is a team that likes to play through the middle on the pitch to create the opportunities for their main attacking threats, Son Heung-Min and Hwang Hee-Chan. Bento was forced to change his formation up for this game to a 4-2-3-1 with main striker Hwang Ui-Jo playing up front supported by 3 behind. With information that Hwang Hee-Chan could make his world cup debut, this formation will surely change back to a 4-4-2 with Son being his wingman.

This will be the 10th time South Korea and Ghana are facing off in all competitions with the last six meetings resulting in three wins apiece for both teams. The Black Stars run out 4-0 victors when both teams and although South Korea failed to score in their first game, goals are still expected. Realistically, anything other than a win won’t be sufficient for South Korea here. They cannot lose this game as it would reduce their qualification chance to near 0% and they must win to force Uruguay’s hand. Expect cards, goals and quality.