Japan vs Croatia Match Preview : FIFA World cup 2018 runners-up Croatia are in the knockouts in Qatar finishing after Morocco in group F . Japan have come through to the Knockout rounds in a very sublime way after beating 2-1 against Germany and 2-1 win against Spain after the 2-1 loss to Canada in their group stage matches.
Croatia hasn’t lost any match in the group stages making two matches a goal less draw with Morocco and Belgium .They won over Canada 4-1 on 27th Nov. Japan and Croatia will be clashing on the 5th of December at Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah.
Japan have performed very well as they topper the group with two wins over big nations of this World Cup, Japan, beating spain 2-1 and Germany 2-1, Ben Knapton said they will “endeavor to pull off another impressive scalp” in round of 16 against Croatia.
Team News
Japan center back Kou Itakura won’t be available after being suspended from getting two yellow cards in the group stage matches.
Takehiro Tomiyasu and Wataru Endo have chances of being in the starting line-up, Hiroki Sakai is still recovering from his injury. Miki Yamane, Wataru Endo , Shogo Taniguchi, and Maya Yoshida are the players who if booked will miss the next match if Japan qualified .
Japan vs Croatia Probable Starting 11
Japan
Shuichi Gonda, Maya Yoshida, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Shogo Taniguchi, Junya Ito, Yuto Nagatomo,
Wataru Endo, Hidemasa Morita, Daichi Kamada, Takefusa Kubo andTakuma Asano.
Croatia
Dominik Livakovic, Dejan Lovren, Josip Juranovic, Josko Gvardiol, Luka Modric, Borna Sosa, Marcelo
Brozovic, Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Perisic, Andrej Kramaric,and Marko Livaja.
Japan vs Croatia Key Players to watch
Japan – Ritsu Duan(2 goals),Junya ito(4 assists,4 key passes), Maya Yoshida(179 passes,17 clearances) and Ko Itakura(4 interceptions,9 tackles attempted)
Croatia- Luka Modric(3 Apps,5 interceptions,8 tackles attepmted), Ivan Perisic(2 assists), Mateo Kovacic(5 key passes), Dejan Lovern(10 clearances)
Japan vs Croatia Odds
The Underdogs Giant-Killers Japan may take a 2-1 win over Croatia. Chris Sutton told on the BBC “I don’t think the Blue Samurai are yet done in this tournament”.
- 3-way handicap: Japan (+280) | Draw (+225) | Croatia (+105)
- Draw No Bet: Japan (+160) |Croatia (-225)
- Over/Under Goals: Over 2.5 ( +125) | Under 2.5 (-175)
- Both Teams to Score: Yes (+100) | No (-145)
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