Belgium will look to consolidate their position as one of the favourites to win the World Cup on Monday evening when they play their last 16 match of the tournament against Japan with the winners potentially facing Brazil in the quarter finals.
Belgium were one of just three teams to secure maximum points in the group stage and will be full of confidence heading in here while Japan squeezed through on a lower number of yellow cards than Senegal and will look to take advantage of their opportunity.
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Belgium
They haven’t always looked like they are at full pelt in this tournament but nobody can argue with the results Belgium have picked up. In fact, for the first hour or so against Panama and the first 40 minutes against Tunisia I thought they were playing well within themselves but when they got going they soon put the matches to bed which suggested that they knew they didn’t need to be all out to win.
We can’t read anything into their final group match because they rested everyone but that certainly shouldn’t be a bad thing. Most of their players play in England so they would have had heavy workloads for their club so an extended rest should be perfect preparation for them. They now have the chance to justify their billing as genuine threats in this tournament.
Japan
You need to be some kind of psychic to judge Japan in this tournament really. Their first match became an impossible one to judge them in once their opponents lost a man in the second minute and their last game against Poland descended into an absolute farce come the end of it so we can’t really take much from that either.
In the bits of normality around the Japanese in the tournament I think my initial viewpoint on them was about right in that they can certainly impress going forward but at the back they look very weak as both Senegal and Poland showed. They also have a goalkeeper who would give nobody any confidence which doesn’t bode well.
Team News
Roberto Martinez has confirmed that Romelu Lukaku is fully fit after he left the Tunisia game with an injury. He is set to recall all those he rested against England. Vincent Kompany and Thomas Vermaelen are pushing for starts.
Japan will bring the players they surprisingly rested for their final group game back into their side here but Shinji Okazaki is registered as a doubt with a niggling injury that he has been carrying throughout the tournament.
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Betting
I’m firmly in the Belgium camp here. I think they could destroy Japan going forward with the quality they have on show not to mention the power they have through Lukaku. We saw Senegal overpower Japan when they went forward but Belgium have a lot more skill and trickery about them too which will make it tough for Japan. Belgium look like they are warming up nicely and with an early goal I think they’ll power past a Japan side who have ridden their luck to make it this far. That luck is set to run out.
I expect there to be goals in this match too. The Japan coach has come out with a little bit of a guilty attitude about how things developed in their final match on Thursday and has suggested his side will go on the attack here. If they do it plays into Belgium’s hands but it might be their best chance at the same time. Over backers were screwing twice on Sunday but they can recoup their losses in this one.
Tips
Back Belgium (-1) to beat Japan for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfair
WON – Back Over 2.5 goals for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Betfair
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