Japan VS Colombia Match Prediction

Japan and Colombia have played four times before, with two of their meetings taking place in the World Cup.  They met in last year’s edition, with Japan winning 1-2.  In 2014, however, they fell 1-4 to Colombia.  Overall, Colombia have two wins, a draw, and a loss to the Blue Samurai.

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JPN vs COL Betting Tips and Odds

Bet365 have the following odds available for this match:

Japan are at 19/10 to win, a draw is at 23/10, and a Colombia win is at 7/5.

Hosts Japan will come into this match in a bit of a sour mood.  They had looked to have righted the ship after years of torment under non-Japanese managers, but they came unraveled at the final hurdle against Qatar in the Asian Cup Final.  They had looked to be cruising toward the title, one that would have made up for a relatively poor World Cup in their eyes, but they were denied by the upstart 2022 hosts.  It’s also worth pointing out that this will be a good bit of preparation for the Blue Samurai, who will be partaking in the Copa America this summer.  They were drawn with Ecuador, Uruguay, and Chile, so it will be good for them to get some comparable competition.  In the last year, they have 12 wins, three draws, and six losses.  All of the losses, save the one to Qatar and one to Ghana, were against European foes.

As for Colombia, they will come into this match looking to go just that little bit further.  They are always on the edge of doing something truly great, but they just can’t quite get there.  A look at their team shows a very strong one, especially in the wing and attacking positions, but they have been so often undone toward the back.  That needs to be addressed for sure.  They did well in Russia, but they did let a golden opportunity pass them by in their penalty loss.  Since then, they have rattled off wins over smaller sides that would be similar to Japan’s level, so this should be viewed by them as a very likely win.  They, like Japan, will be getting ready for the Copa America, in which they will encounter Argentina, Paraguay and Japan’s nemesis, Qatar, in the group stage.  In the past year, they have six wins, three draws, a draw with a penalty loss, and one loss.  Both ‘losses’ were in Russia, so apart from that they have been in awesome form.

Betfair have no for both sides scoring at 2.05.

0-1 exactly can be had at Ladbrokes for 7/1 odds.

Japan vs Colombia Prediction

Colombia are one of those teams that seemingly get into the same sort of spots cycle after cycle.  Good but not great, they need to go just that little bit further.  They can build toward that with a win in Japan over a tough but inconsistent Japanese squad.

Correct Score Prediction: Japan 0-1 Colombia

Japan Team News

Hajime Moriyasu has decided to leave out goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda, defenders Maya Yoshida and Hiroki Sakai, midfielder Genki Haraguchi, and striker Yoshi Muto, among others, after many were involved with the loss against Qatar.  Those injured and set to miss out include forward Yuya Osako, midfielder Wataru Endo, and defender Yuto Nagatomo.

Japan Key Man

Despite all of the big stars that have been left out, the Blue Samurai have called upon Shinji Kagawa here.  The former Borussia Dortmund man had fallen out of favor there in Germany, but there is no doubting his international credentials as he has racked up 31 goals in 95 caps.  Along with him, there is a question mark over where production will come from. But RB Salzburg man Takumi Minamino is one possible answer.  He’s already grabbed five goals in just 13 caps, with one of them coming in the loss to Qatar in February.

Japan Team Form

Japan have a loss and four wins in their last five matches:

1-3 loss vs Qatar (Asian Cup)
0-3 win vs Iran (AAC)
0-1 win vs Vietnam (AAC)
1-0 win vs Saudi Arabia (AAC)
2-1 win vs Uzbekistan (AAC)

Japan Predicted Starting Line up

Expected Line up: 4-4-2

Colombia Team News

Carlos Queiroz has called up most of his heavy hitters, just as he did for the friendly win against Costa Rica last time out, but he will have to make do without goalkeeper David Ospina, who suffered a head injury at the weekend.  Defender Santiago Arias and midfielders Juan Quintero and Juan Cuadrado are also all out injured, while he has chosen to leave striker Carlos Bacca off the squad this go-around.  Carlos Sanchez, who was red carded against Japan in Russia, is out injured, though he hasn’t received a call since then anyway.

Colombia Key Man

When you talk about Colombia, there’s no choice but to mention James Rodriguez.  The Bayern star had a tepid at best showing against Liverpool in the Champions League, but at international level, he can really shine his brightest.  This is where he broke out, after all, and he will hope to add to his 22 international goals here.  Radamel Falcao looks set to lead the line.  His Monaco side are doing better now, and the captain of the Colombians will look to have one more big day in the sun for his nation as he seeks to add to a total of 32 goals scored from 81 appearances thus far.

Colombia Team Form

Colombia have three wins and two draws in their last five matches:

3-1 home win vs Costa Rica
2-4 win at USA
0-0 home draw vs Argentina
1-2 win at Venezuela
1-1 draw, penalty loss vs England (WC)

Colombia Predicted Starting Line up

Expected Line up: 4-2-2-2

It's not been a huge run of games since their penalty knockout by the Three Lions, but Colombia have still done well since then. They sort of have picked up where they left off in truth, as they never played that poorly in the tournament, save for when they went to ten men inside four minutes. Japan barely won that game even still, and despite being at home for this fixture, Colombia have got to be favored to win. Of course, provided they can actually keep all 11 on the pitch this time.

Colombia have gone unbeaten since they were eliminated on penalties at the World Cup by England.