The AFC Asian Cup continues on Saturday with a double header from Group E of the competition as the four sides involved will look to close in on a spot in the knockout stages of the tournament, if not secure it.
This is a group where we have the two winners from the opening set of games meeting with top spot up for grabs while the two losers will also meet with the incentive of keeping their chances in the competition in their own hands.
Jordan vs South Korea (11.30)
The opening match of the day sees the two teams who won their first game meeting when Jordan take on a South Korea side who aren’t just expected to dominate the group but also to push winning the tournament very close.
You wouldn’t say Korea were completely convincing in beating Bahrain in the opening round of games but they got the job done and you would imagine that there is more to come from them as the competition goes on but there was a lot to like about the way Jordan went about their business in beating Malaysia in the first game and with them expected to beat Bahrain in the last one they can attack this with a bit of a free hit. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is an open game with a few goals in it but South Korea do have the quality to shut the game down if they go ahead. I’ll leave this one alone, especially after we saw Japan slip up in a similar game on Friday.
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Bahrain vs Malaysia (14.30)
The other match taking place on Saturday sees the two teams who lost in their first game meeting with the tournament life potentially on the line. That will certainly be the case for Malaysia as they take on South Korea in their last game but Bahrain won’t want to go into their meeting with Jordan with no points to show for their efforts.
Malaysia were well beaten by Jordan in their first match and with Bahrain just one spot below Jordan in the FIFA world rankings you would have to think a struggle is likely once again. The Jordan xG in that match was 2.45 to the 0.53 of Malaysia which shows the domination they had. In contrast, Bahrain had a good go against South Korea and were level at one stage in the second half. Against what is the best team in the group on paper they created an xG of 1.22 and if they can be a little more clinical in front of goal then I think Bahrain can get their tournament tally up and running here. I liked what I saw from Bahrain offensively and with their defence unlikely to be challenged anything like as much as it was in that previous game I think Bahrain on the Asian lines is the way to go here.
Tips
Back Bahrain (-0.75AH) to beat Malaysia for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with Bet365
