Senegal vs Japan
There’s a huge prize for the winner of Senegal vs Japan when the two Group H outsiders meet at the 35,000-capacity Central Stadium in Ekaterinburg on Sunday.
Who would have thought that both these teams would come into the game with three points already, with the more heavily backed Colombia and Poland in their group? But that’s exactly where we are, and another win on Sunday will all but see the victors in the last 16.
It’s bound to be a cracker: the Senegal fans will be hoping to cheer their talented team on to another famous victory, but I suspect Japan would be more than happy with a draw.
And you can get all the latest and best Senegal vs Japan updates right here at SBOBET.
Talking Points
Senegal have a real spring in their step after M’Baye Niang scored the late winner in their opening match victory over Poland. Kamikaze defending helped Aliou Cisse’s team along the way, but they deserved their win, attacking with speed and sticking to the task. And that triumph makes three victories in six World Cup appearances, which all means they are Africa’s most successful side with a 50 per cent record!
Sadio Mane had a quiet game by his standards and he’ll be itching to get into this next match to give Japan the runaround. The Liverpool man had an outstanding season at Anfield and was the joint second-highest scorer in the Champions League with ten goals at a rate if one every 94 minutes on the pitch.
Japan had the good fortune to be playing against ten men for much of their opening fixture against Colombia but, again, they showed the spirit and togetherness to see the task through. Former Manchester United favourite Shinji Kagawa is an old head with plenty of trickery still in his boots, so Senegal will be under no illusion this will be easy. Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly will be tasked with keeping any Japan threat at bay in Senegal’s first-ever World Cup game against Asian opponents.
Evergreen midfielder Keisuke Honda fired in the free-kick to set up Japan’s winner over Colombia, and that means he’s had a hand in six of his team’s last eight World Cup goals with three goals and three assists.
At least one of these teams will likely progress to a second-round tie, probably against Belgium or England. And with both of them below Colombia and Poland in the FIFA Rankings, a long way in Japan’s case, that would be some achievement.
History
History is in Senegal’s favour, but we only have three games to work on. They have won two and drawn one against Japan. The latest result was a 1-0 victory in a 2003 friendly which gives Aliou Cisse’s boys the bragging rights. Fifteen years later, Japan have an opportunity to get their own back.
That was a great Senegal team which had surprised the world at the South Korea and Japan 2002 World Cup, and fans have high hopes that this team could be just as successful. This is Japan’s sixth appearances at the World Cup finals; they haven’t reached the heights of their opponents but did make the last 16 in their home tournament in Senegal’s big year, and again in 2010.
Both Senegal and Japan arrive in good spirits with back-to-back wins. Before their 2-1 victories in Group H which have put them both in a great position, they arrived in Russia with successes: Senegal beat Korea 2-0, while Japan saw off Paraguay 4-2 a week before their World Cup opener. But Akira Nishino’s team did suffer three consecutive defeats before that.
What are the odds?
So where do we go with Senegal vs Japan betting tips?
All three results are quite possible with Senegal the favourites at odds of 2.34 with the draw at 3.05 and Japan the outsider at 3.15.
The handicap offer pitches Senegal at 1.99 with a -0.25 handicap, and Japan at 1.94 with that marginal +0.25 advantage.
We think it’s going to be a tight game and odds of over 2.00 goals is at 1.89, while under 2.00 goals is 2.01.
But here’s a thing; Japan have conceded two goals in each of their last five games.
So there’s an interesting choice of score lines to make. In a tight game, will Japan ship two goals again? If you think they will, then a 2-1 win for Senegal pays 8.75.
Take your pick if you think there will be under 2.00 goals – maybe a 1-0 at 5.80?
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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