Japan vs Senegal Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Japan were touted as firm favourites to finish bottom of the FIFA World Cup 2018 Group H, but they overcame the odds to take an emotional 2-1 win over Colombia on Tuesday. This came the day after a serious earthquake struck Japan, and the emotion was clear on Yuya Osako’s face after he netted the winning goal.

They certainly didn’t do it the easy way though. They looked in prime position to get a comfortable win when Carlos Sanchez was sent off inside five minutes for Colombia, with Shinji Kagawa coolly slotting the resulting penalty. However, they struggled to control the ten men of Colombia after that, and the South Americans fully deserved their equaliser shortly before the break. Japan did improve in the second half, but it was by no means a straightforward victory.

Senegal’s wasn’t an easy win either, but on the other hand they weren’t blessed with the opportunity to play against ten men for 87 minutes. Despite that, they still managed to cause an upset as they deservedly beat the Robert Lewandowski led Poland to massively boost their chances of qualification to the knockout stages.

Poland were dreadful to be honest, and their afternoon was summed up when Idrissa Gueye saw his shot take a heavy deflection into the Polish net. A shocking error from Gregorz Krychowiak allowed M’Baye Niang a free run on Wojciech Szczesny and he duly tapped it in for 2-0. Krychowiak went some way to redeeming himself when he pulled a goal back, but it was too little and too late for Poland.

This Senegal team seem to have been written off by many, but their side is filled with exciting talent. There are six Premier League players in their squad, and the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly and Salif Sane offer more quality at the back. This is a very talented side who seem to be working well together right now, and they will fancy their chances against a Japan side who struggled enormously against the ten men of Colombia.

Senegal have scored at least two goals in six of their last ten matches as well, whilst Japan have conceded two or more in five of their last seven games. This makes a Senegal Over 1.5 Team Goals bet look very promising, and we’re backing that along with a 2-1 correct score predictions.

M’Baye Niang will be flying high with confidence right now, and despite a talented array of attackers, he’s very likely to retain his spot up front here. The Torino forward was a constant threat to the Polish back line and deserved his goal, and we’re backing him to get on the score-sheet again here.

Japan Predicted Lineup: Kawashima, Sakai, Yoshida, Shoji, Nagatomo, Shibasaki, Hasebe, Haraguchi, Kagawa, Inui, Osako

Senegal Predicted Lineup: N’Diaye, Wague, Sane, Koulibaly, Sabaly, Gueye, N’Diaye, Sarr, Mane, Diouf, Niang