On Tuesday, 30 January, the most anticipated match of the first round of the playoffs will take place at the Asian Cup. The Saudi Arabian national team will play against South Korea. Both teams were among the main favourites for the tournament.

Saudi Arabia had high hopes for the appointment of Roberto Mancini. The Italian received a cosmic salary of €30 million, but there was no immediate effect. Saudi Arabia were mired in conflicts even before the tournament. The quality of play was not the brightest either.

At the same time, it is too early to make any claims against Mancini. The national team, although playing cautiously, got out of the group very confidently, which is not the case with the Koreans and Japanese. The Arabians picked up seven points after beating Kyrgyzstan and Oman. In the last round with Thailand, there was no point in playing to win.

It is curious that Mancini, probably already with an eye on the play-offs, used a scheme with three centre-backs. That is, there was less risk. But only one goal conceded. Saudi Arabia are aiming for pragmatic football. Mancini's 4-3-3 is no longer used. The Saudis are playing much more cautiously than they did at the World Cup with the previous coach Renard.

South Korea has seriously rattled the nerves of their fans. The team had difficulties in the group stage until the last minutes. A completely different performance was expected from the Koreans. In a modest group, the favourites barely scraped together five points. In the last match, they had to salvage a meeting with Malaysia. There was also a draw with Jordan, and Bahrain eventually managed to slip ahead in their group.

The Koreans clearly don't have anywhere near championship confidence, although the two main stars in place are striker Son and Bayern centre-back Kim. South Korea also operate a far from the most attacking 4-4-2 formation, but are surprisingly conceding a lot: six goals in three rounds is an anomaly.

Bookmakers give South Korea a very big favourite. There are questions to that status. Most likely, both teams will change their style of play compared to the group stage. A meeting to the goal is being looked at. Saudi Arabia will go into defence and give the ball to their opponents. South Korea has not yet played against the giants in Qatar. Surprises are possible.

If we take personal meetings between the teams, then defeats are almost never recorded here. A friendly match in September 2023 ended with a minimal victory for South Korea. For Saudi Arabia and Mancini personally, this is a defining match in terms of future prospects. It is not excluded that the coach will simply be sacked in case of failure. It is logical to assume defensive football on the part of the national team, which will score first.