Preview: South Korea vs. El Salvador - prediction, team news, lineups

South Korea will be looking to claim their first win of Jurgen Klinsmann's tenure when they face El Salvador in Daejeon.

El Salvador, meanwhile, have lost their last five matches, and they will be desperate to end their poor run of form in Tuesday's friendly.

Match preview

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After succeeding Paulo Bento earlier this year, Klinsmann's reign as South Korea boss has got off to an underwhelming start.

The 58-year-old oversaw a 2-2 draw against Colombia in his opening game, before South Korea were beaten 2-1 to Uruguay.

The Taegeuk Warriors would have been hoping for an upturn in fortunes when they played host to Peru on Friday, but an 11th-minute strike from Bryan Reyna condemned South Korea to a 1-0 defeat.

With South Korea sitting 48 places higher than El Salvador in the FIFA world rankings, Klinsmann will view Tuesday's encounter as a golden chance to clinch his first victory.

Having conceded in their last six matches, the Taegeuk Warriors will be looking to claim their first clean sheet since playing out a goalless draw with Uruguay in their opening game of the 2022 World Cup.

The visitors are also desperate to record a victory after failing to win any of their last seven games since beating Grenada in the CONCACAF Nations League in June 2022.

In their most recent outing against Japan, El Salvador were forced to play the majority of the contest with 10 men after Ronald Rodriguez was shown a straight red card in the third minute.

Japan took full advantage of their extra player, racing into a four-goal lead by half time before adding two more after the break to condemn El Salvador to a heavy 6-0 defeat.

La Selecta have now lost five consecutive games, and Hugo Perez will be particularly concerned by the fact that his side have failed to score in their last four matches.

If they can pick a win on Tuesday it would be El Salvador's first victory in a friendly since they edged out Haiti by a 1-0 scoreline in June 2019.

Team News

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As for the visitors, they will be unable to call upon Rodriguez, who will serve a one-match suspension after being sent off against Japan.

With Rodriguez unavailable, Roberto Dominguez is expected to be brought into the side to partner Eriq Zavaleta in the centre of defence.

Brayan Gil Hurtado is set to win his third cap for El Salvador on Tuesday, and the forward will be looking to score his first international goal.

Jung Seung-hyun and Park Ji-soo are expected to retain their places in the centre of the South Korean defence, while Ahn Hyun-beom and Lee Ki-je are set to operate as the two full-backs.

Son Heung-min was an unused substitute for the defeat to Peru, but the Tottenham Hotspur man is expected to start on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old could be joined in the frontline by Hwang Ui-jo, who has scored 16 goals in his 53 international appearances.

South Korea possible starting lineup:

Seung-gyu; Hyun-beom, Seung-hyun, Ji-soo, Ki-je; Kang-in, In-beom, Du-jae, Jae-sung; Ui-jo, Heung-min

El Salvador possible starting lineup:

Gonzalez; Tamacas, Zavaleta, Dominguez, Roldan; Perez, Orellana, Landaverde, Reyes; Gil Hurtado, Henriquez

We say: South Korea 2-0 El Salvador

South Korea may have failed to win their first three games under Jurgen Klinsmann, but we think that they will have the extra quality required to beat El Salvador on Tuesday.

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