Preview:United Arab Emirates vs. South Korea - prediction, team news, lineups

Looking to secure top spot in their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying group, South Korea visit the Al Maktoum Stadium on Tuesday to face off against the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, the hosts set out to keep their hopes of being in the hat for November's global showpiece alive, with their qualification chances currently hanging in the balance.

Match preview

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South Korea saw off the threat of Iran courtesy of a comfortable 2-0 victory in their penultimate World Cup qualifier at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Thursday.

Skipper Son Heung-min broke the deadlock on the stroke of half time before Kim Young-gwon doubled his side's lead just past the hour mark.

Having picked up 23 points from a possible 27 so far, Paulo Bento's men have now claimed top spot in Group A, leapfrogging the aforementioned Iran.

The Taegeuk Warriors are also on a seven-game winning streak and are unbeaten in competitive matches since a 1-0 defeat to Qatar in January 2019.

Going up against an opposing side who have lost each of the last six meetings between the teams, Tuesday's visitors will fancy themselves to come out on top and round off their qualifying journey in style.

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UAE were beaten for the fourth consecutive game away from home following a 1-0 loss to Iraq at the King Fahd International Stadium on Thursday.

Hussein Ali's superb opener eight minutes into the second period was enough to condemn Rodolfo Arruabarrena's men to defeat in Riyadh.

The Eyal Zayed remain third in the group standings, one point ahead of nearest challengers Iraq heading into the final round of matches.

A victory on Tuesday would guarantee the hosts a fourth-round play-off spot against Australia in June, while anything less could spell the end of their World Cup dream.

Team News

Son Heung-min is closing in on his 100th cap, with the Tottenham man just three shy of racking up a century of appearances for South Korea.

Hwang Hee-Chan scored the winner in November's reverse fixture at the Goyang Stadium and will be looking to come up trumps for his country once again.

Lee Jae-Sung is one to keep an eye on having established himself as a creative force of late, assisting three goals in his last two international outings.

UAE's Ali Mabkhout endured a frustrating day in front of goal last time out, but the forward is expected to retain his place in attack on Tuesday.

Twenty-eight-year-old Ibrahim Khalil could return to the starting XI for this one after having to make do with a second-half cameo last time out.

United Arab Emirates possible starting lineup:

Eisa; Abbas, Alhammadi, Marzooq; Al Hammadi, Al Naqbi, Hassan, Mohammed; Canedo, Saleh, Mabkhout

South Korea possible starting lineup:

S. Kim; T. Kim, M. Kim, Y. Kim, J. Kim; Kwon, Lee, Jung; Son, Hwang, Cho

We say: United Arab Emirates 1-2 South Korea

Despite having already qualified for the World Cup, the visitors will be keen to extend their winning run against a UAE side who have been dire in this fixture. We fancy South Korea to get the job done at the end of the 90 minutes.