South Korea vs Malaysia Prediction and Betting Tips: Son features in final Group C Asian Cup fixture

Group E of the 2023 Asian Cup concludes with a meeting between 2nd placed South Korea and basement dwellers Malaysia at 11:30am on Thursday morning BST.

A 2-2 draw with leaders Jordan prevented South Korea from maintaining a 100% record at the Asian Cup finals, sitting in 2nd, having conceded a goal more and scored one goal fewer. Talisman Son Heung-min opened the scoring inside 10 minutes from the penalty spot, but Jurgen Klinsmann's side needed an injury-time equaliser to earn themselves a point after Jordan led for almost an entire half.

The winless, goalless and pointless Malaysians already know they'll be flying home from Qatar once Thursday's match concludes, however, pride remains on the line, and the possibility of claiming a scalp over one of the tournament favourites remains strong motivation. They aren't well fancied to pull off this feat though, with bookmakers pricing them up around the 50/1 mark for a spectacular victory.

South Korea are heavy favourites in this match for a reason - they're behind only Japan in the betting to win the entire tournament and are facing a Malaysia side without a win, point or goal at the Asian Cup, and who have been defeated by Vietnam, Thailand, Tajikistan and Jordan over the last 13 months. Klinsmann's men have won seven of their last eight matches, going unbeaten over 10 fixtures since a 1-0 friendly loss to Peru.

Son Heung-min has five goals in his last five outings for the national team, netting 12 times in 20 Premier League appearances for Tottenham under Ange Postecoglou's new guidance. He seems to be flourishing as his team's main source of goals now that Harry Kane has departed - a role he's familiar with already as captain of South Korea.

Only one of his last five goals has come on home soil, meaning Son should have no problems scoring on the bigger stage at the Asian Cup having already done so in South Korea's 2-2 draw with Jordan.

Son is outperforming his xG this season in the Premier League - scoring 12 from an xG of 7.1 - which could be a good trait to have when playing for a country where responsibility and expectation are increased. The 31-year-old boasted two braces for South Korea in 2023, coming against Colombia in an international friendly in March before scoring two goals vs China in World Cup qualification in late November. 

Sonny is also on penalty duty for his nation, already getting himself off the mark in Qatar via this method last time out. Jordan hit Malaysia for four and dangerous further looms with Jurgen Klinsmann's team having scored five in their two group fixtures. With neither qualification nor top spot secured for South Korea yet, Son could lead an assault where we see the Malays on the receiving end of another thumping this Thursday.