Sarina Wiegman’s England Lionesses kick off their Arnold Clark Cup title defence against South Korea at Stadium MK.
With Belgium playing Italy in the teatime kick-off, victory could see England or South Korea go top of the table if can better the result of the early match.
Team News
Jordan Nobbs is in contention to start for England after she was recalled to the squad following Fran Kirby’s withdrawal from the squad due to injury, having initially been snubbed in the initial squad selection.
Leah Williamson and Laura Coombs are also looking to feature upon their returns to the squad after varying degrees of absence, as Williamson missed November’s friendlies through injury whilst Coombs is looking for her first international appearance since 2015.
Keira Walsh is a doubt for this game due to a stomach bug but could return for Sunday’s clash against Italy.
Goalkeeper, Emily Ramsey is looking for her debut after receiving her first proper senior call-up – having previously been part of a training camp in June 2021.
South Korea have no fresh injury concerns to report with Brighton’s Lee Geum-min and Park Ye-eun included in their squad.
When is Kick-Off?
England host South Korea at Stadium MK on Thursday 16 February in a 7:45pm GMT kick-off, live on ITV4 in Uk which will also air Belgium’s opening clash against Italy at 4:45pm that same day.
Stat Attack
- England are unbeaten in two previous meetings against South Korea in all competitions (W1, D1).
- South Korea are playing England on English soil for the very first time.
- England are yet to concede against South Korea in all competitions, having drawn 0-0 in 2010 Peace Cup then won 2-0 in 2011 Cyprus Cup.
- Rachel Daly has scored in three of England’s last five matches, with two of her three goals scored in the 38th minute.
- South Korea have kept clean sheets in three of their last five matches (W3, D2).
Prediction
Having gone unbeaten in 2022 and still avoided defeat in 26 matches dating back to September 2021, England now face the tricky task of continuing that form as they build up to this summer’s World Cup as Wiegman continues to experiment with her squad depth.
Mead’s absence though will certainly pose an issue such is her incredible pace on the right and with her spot at the World Cup uncertain, I do expect Wiegman to potentially experiment with tactics in order to discover how her players can cope when key players are absent.
South Korea though have become difficult to break down defensively in recent months but have scored more than one goal in just three of their nine matches last year, so I do expect them to come here looking to make life difficult for the Lionesses.
Wiegman though does have the squad versatility needed to potentially find their way past the Tigers of Asia, although patience will be important if South Korea decide to play deep defensively and hit them on the counter-attack.
Prediction: England 2-0 South Korea
Result: England 4-0 South Korea
Leave a Reply