Russia v South Korea World Cup predictions and betting tips

Match	Date	Selection	Bet	Odds	Bet now
Russia v South Korea World Cup predictions and betting tips World Cup 2014, International	18/06/2014 00:00	full time result	Draw	3.20	Bet at Skybet
Betting prediction was written by Dan Adair

RUSSIA v SOUTH KOREA: QUALIFICATION

Any side with Fabio Capello at the helm knows how to qualify and Russia did it in style. Finishing above Portugal and Isreal in a tight group with a few other sides who are no pushovers. A typical Capello team this one, based around a solid defence and very highly organized. South Korea finished runners up to Iran which surprised many. The Koreans struggled initially and dropped a few points early on which caused an emergency change of manager. They recovered well and will challenge for the honors in this tight group.

THE RUSSIA SQUAD

Coach: Fabio Capello

Goalkeepers: 1.Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow), 12.Yury Lodygin (Zenit St Petersburg), 16.Sergey Ryzhikov (Rubin Kazan).

Defenders: 14.Vasili Berezutskiy *C* (CSKA Moscow), 13.Vladimir Granat (Dynamo Moscow), 22.Andrey Yeshchenko (Anzhi Makhachkala), 4.Sergey Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow), 2.Alexey Kozlov (Dynamo Moscow), 23.Dmitry Kombarov (Spartak Moscow), 5.Andrey Semenov (Terek Grozny), 3.Georgi Schennikov (CSKA Moscow).

Midfielders: 8.Denis Glushakov (Spartak Moscow), 7.Igor Denisov (Dynamo Moscow), 10.Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow), 18.Yury Zhirkov (Dynamo Moscow), 21.Alexey Ionov (Dynamo Moscow), 19.Alexander Samedov (Lokomotiv Moscow), 20.Victor Faizulin (Zenit St Petersburg), 17.Oleg Shatov (Zenit St Petersburg), Pavel Mogilevets (Rubin Kazan).

Forwards: 6.Maxim Kanunnikov (Amkar Perm), 11.Alexander Kerzhakov (Zenit St Petersburg), 9.Alexander Kokorin (Dynamo Moscow).

Experianced Russia side with no real suprises. Solid at the back as you would expect from any Capello team. Lack any real guile up front though. Although Kerzhakov has a decent record he is not someone you can rely upon to finish his chances. Youngster Kokorin may be the surprise figure up top.

THE SOUTH KOREA SQUAD

Coach: Myung Bo Hong

Goalkeepers: 1.Jung Sung-Ryeong (Suwon Bluewings), 21.Kim Seung-gyu (Ulsan Horang-i), 23.Lee Bom-young (Busan I’Park).

Defenders: 22.Park Joo-Ho (Mainz), 3.Yun Suk-young (QPR), 5.Kim Young-kwon (Guangzhou Evergrande), 6.Hwang Seok-ho (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), 20.Hong Jeong-ho (Augsburg), 4.Kwak Tae-hwi (Al Hilal), 12.Lee Yong (Ulsan Horang-i), 2.Kim Chang-Soo (Kashiwa Reysol).

Midfielders: 16.Ki Seung-yeung (Sunderland), 8.Ha Dae-Sung (Beijing Guoan), 14.Han Kook-young (Kashiwa Reysol), 15.Park Jung-Woo (Guangzhou R&F), 9.Son Heung-Min (Bayer Leverkusen), 7.Kim Bo-kyoung (Cardiff City), 17.Lee Chung-Yong (Bolton Wanderers), 19.Ji Dong-Won (Augusburg).

Forwards: 13.Koo Ja-cheol *C* (Mainz), 11.Lee Keun-ho (Sangju Sangmu), 10.Park Chu-young (Arsenal), 18.Kim Shin-wook (Ulsan Horang-i).

Not as successful as previous South Korean teams and come into the games a bit low after a tough qualifying section. Have not had the greatest warm up run of games either so on the floor at the moment; Have a few options though and certainly do have some quality players with Koo Ja-Cheol and Son Hueng Min standouts.

WARM UP GAMES

Russia have played three and won two with one draw. They opened up with a 1-0 win over Slovakia in St Petersburg, an unconvincing win really with a late Kerzhakov goal. Next was a 1-1 with Norway in Oslo, a game in which they again spurned chances. Last match they faced up to Morocco in Moscow and ran out 2-0 winners. Again the main theme was missed chances with Kokorin at fault here; Russia scored via a corner and with a long range Zhirkov thunderbolt. So although they are winning they are not convincing at all. South Korea have lost both warmup games without scoring and have conceded 5! – They lost in Seoul to Tunisia 1-0 in a game they dominated but offered little penetration in. Next up was a terrible 4-0 loss to Ghana. They could not stem the attacks at all and although they had some decent possession offered nothing going forward.

MATCH ANALYSIS

This looks on the face of it a straightforward Russia win by I am starting to doubt the credentials of the Capello side. He is struggling up front and whoever he chooses from Kokorin or Kherzahov he knows the striker is capable of missing more than converting. At this level chances are few and far between and any half or full chances need to be snapped up. South Korea are in poor form but Russia will not attack like Ghana did and I feel both sides will cancel each other out. Capello will be racked with nerves and will not want to lose this one, I feel South Korea will be happy with a draw too.

BETTING TIPS 1X2

Closer game than it looks on paper this one and I have no hesitation in taking the draw. Low scoring one for sure as both coaches prefer the safety first option. The odds are decent on the stalemate here and for me it should be a shade shorter.

Back Draw at 3.20 (11/5) with Skybet