World Cup 2022: Japan Can’t Afford Slip-up Against Rivals China

Japan vs China

World Cup 2022 qualifying in Asia is going down to the wire. As things stand, Japan have a narrow one-point lead over Australia for the second automatic qualification place in Group B. Still, the Samurai Blue can’t afford to slip up at home when they host old rivals China.

The Chinese are second from bottom in the group with just one win in six games, and the World Cup 2022 betting odds will be heavily against them as they take on Japan at the Saitama Stadium.

But the Chinese held Australia to a 1-1 draw in their most recent qualifier in November, and they will surely be keen to sabotage the Samurai Blue’s World Cup hopes.

Talking Points

Japan missing key defensive duo

Japan still have a lot of work to do to qualify for their seventh straight World Cup in Qatar. The Samurai Blue are currently in second place in Group B, four points behind leaders Saudi Arabia and one point ahead of third-placed Australia.

The Japanese have won three straight qualifying games after their narrow 1-0 defeat to the Saudis. Although, they could only eke out 1-0 away wins against Vietnam and Oman. Midfielder Junya Ito scored the winning goal on both occasions.

The Japanese defence will be without two key players in captain and centre-back Maya Yoshida and Arsenal right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu due to injury. The two have been Japan’s centre-back partnership for the last few qualifiers and will be sorely missed.

In their absence, veteran right-back Hiroki Sakai could be brought in to fill in at centre-back alongside Naomichi Ueda.

Meanwhile, Japan’s attack has struggled to create too many goals in qualifying. They have scored just five times in six games. Yuya Osako will likely continue to lead the line, with Liverpool’s Takumi Minamino and Ito offering support. Minamino has been in decent form for Liverpool, with two goals and an assist in his last six appearances.

Talented 20-year-old and Olympian Takefusa Kubo (13 caps, 0 goals) has also been called up and could be a potential game-changer off the bench.

New China coach set for tough debut

China’s hopes of qualifying for Qatar are not looking good. They are second from bottom in the Group B standings with just one win, two draws, and three defeats in their first six games.

Although, the Chinese are coming into this match against rivals Japan in some sort of form after back-to-back 1-1 draws with Oman and Australia.

Unfortunately, though, those results were not enough to save head coach Li Tie’s job as he was fired last December. Li Xiaopeng has now taken over as national team coach and will look to get some positive World Cup 2022 results.

“My tactics are how to keep our dream alive after the match with Japan. We know Japan well and they have many good players. We need to focus on ourselves and play our game,” Li said.

Veteran forward Wu Lei (27 goals in 77 caps) scored both goals as he raised his tally to four goals during the third round of qualifying.

China were expected to have some reinforcements for Wu Lei in the form of forward Fei Nanduo, but the naturalised Brazilian has returned to his home country due to family reasons and will miss the team’s upcoming qualifiers.

But the Chinese will still have two other Brazilian-born internationals in Luo Guofo and A Lan available against Japan. The 33-year-old A Lan is the most experienced of the three, scoring three goals in eight appearances for China.

History

The football rivalry between China and Japan has been quite a close one. The two countries have met each other a total of 39 times in international football, with Japan holding a very slight 16-15 edge in terms of wins, with eight draws.

The Japanese won their most recent meeting 1-0 in Doha back in September thanks to a Yuya Osako goal.

It has been over 20 years since the Chinese have claimed any sort of win over the Japanese. That came in the Dynasty Cup back in 1998.

Betting Tip

	Japan vs China	Under 2.50 @ 2.04
	January 27, 18:00 (GMT+8)

SBOTOP odds have Japan installed as massive 1.20 favourites to get the home win over rivals China, who are significant 10.00 underdogs away from home. A draw is at 5.40.

The Chinese certainly have an uphill task away against the Japanese, especially with a new coach who has not had much time to implement his system.

The absence of two key defenders will hurt the Japanese, but they should still have enough talent to get the win they need. However, the Chinese will not make it easy and will likely play quite a defensive style to make this another low-scoring affair.

 

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