Japan have won 5 of their last 6 matches against Australia
Can Samurai Blue take control in World Cup qualifiers?
Watch Japan vs Australia live streaming from Saitama
Tip: Japan v Australia | Odds |
Japan Win To Nil | @2.20 |
Japan Win 2-0 Correct Score | @7.00 |
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Japan are on fire in the World Cup qualifiers, scoring 24 goals with none conceded in their previous five victories. Australia are in transition and not expected to threaten Samurai Blue in Saitama.
Stats
Japan have won by 5+ goals in 4 of their last 5 World Cup qualifiers.
Japan have won to nil in 14 of their last 15 World Cup qualifiers.
Japan have won 5 of their last 6 matches against Australia.
Australia have failed to score in 2 of their last 3 matches.
Head to Head
Japan have a 12-5 advantage against Australia with 6 draws in 23 matches.
They last met in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Japan winning 2-1 in Saitama and 2-0 in Sydney.
Japan Form
Japan won all six games in the second round of the World Cup qualifiers. They scored 24 goals with none conceded, concluding with 5-0 wins against Myanmar and Syria.
Samurai Blue kept it going in the third round, thrashing China 7-0 in Saitama. Takumi Minamino scored two goals as they ended with 17-1 shots.
Hajime Moriyasu’s side then won 5-0 in Bahrain. Ayase Ueda and Hidemasa Morita scored two goals each with Koki Ogawa coming off the bench to wrap it up.
Japan are coming off a 2-0 win in Saudi Arabia. Daichi Kamada opened the scoring with Ogawa netting another late goal as a substitute.
Japan Squad & Team News
Goalkeepers: Zion Suzuki, Keisuke Osako, Kosei Tani
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Ko Itakura, Shogo Taniguchi, Yukinari Sugawara, Kōki Machida, Ayumu Seko, Henry Heroki Mochizuki, Hiroki Sekine
Midfielders: Wataru Endo, Takumi Minamino, Junya Ito, Ritsu Doan, Takefusa Kubo, Hidemasa Morita, Daichi Kamada, Ao Tanaka, Kaoru Mitoma, Keito Nakamura, Reo Hatate, Joel Chima Fujita
Forwards: Ayase Ueda, Daizen Maeda, Koki Ogawa, Yuki Ohashi
Yuta Nakayama, Takuma Asano and Mao Hosoya miss out after being called up in September.
Defender Kota Takai is injured.
Ayase Ueda has scored 14 goals in 29 internationals.
Australia Form
Australia won all six matches in the World Cup qualifying second round, scoring 22 goals with none conceded in Group I. They finished by beating Bangladesh 2-0 in Dhaka and thrashing Palestine 5-0 in Perth.
Graham Arnold saw his side fail to score in their opening two games in the third round. They lost 1-0 against Bahrain despite enjoying 71% possession and 11-3 shots, Kusini Yengi sent off in the 77th minute before they conceded late on.
The Socceroos then drew 0-0 in Indonesia where they had 63% possession and 19-5 shots. Arnold resigned and was replaced by former Western Sydney Wanderers, Perth Glory and Melbourne Victory manager Tony Popovic.
Popovic got off to a winning start in Adelaide where Australia came back to beat China 3-1. Lewis Miller equalised on the stroke of half-time with Craig Goodwin and Nishan Velupillay scoring in the second half.
Australia Squad & Team News
Goalkeepers: Mathew Ryan, Joe Gauci, Paul Izzo
Defenders: Aziz Behich, Harry Souttar, Kye Rowles, Jordan Bos, Cameron Burgess, Lewis Miller, Thomas Deng, Gianni Stensness, Jason Geria
Midfielders: Jackson Irvine, Ajdin Hrustic, Riley McGree, Keanu Baccus, Aiden O'Neill, Patrick Yazbek, Luke Brattan
Forwards: Mitch Duke, Craig Goodwin, Daniel Arzani, Samuel Silvera, Nestory Irankunda, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, Nishan Velupillay
Alessandro Circati, Cameron Devlin, Josh Nisbet, Awer Mabil, Martin Boyle, Adam Taggart, John Iredale and Kusini Yengi miss out here.
Massimo Luongo and Connor Metcalfe withdrew due to injury.
Nishan Velupillay comes into contention after scoring on debut Against China.
Craig Goodwin has scored 7 goals in 28 internationals.