Japan vs Poland FIFA World Cup 2018 – Lineups, Predictions & Stats Preview 28 June 2018
Japan meet Poland in this Group H encounter with qualification to the last 16 firmly in Japan’s own hands. Poland will be hurt from going out early, having performed poorly, and will be looking to regain some pride against the Japanese.
Japan Probable Lineups and Stats
Japan enters this match on 4 points, with 1 win and 1 draw from their opening 2 games, having beaten Colombia 2-1, and drawn 2-2 with Senegal. After 2 matches Japan has scored a total of 4 goals, from an average of 10.5 shots per game. They have yet to keep a clean sheet having conceded a total of 3 goals between the 2 games. Japan has received 3 yellow cards and 0 red cards in the tournament, a joined group low with Poland. Makoto Hasebe, Takashi Inui, and Eiji Kawashima have received cautions. Japan has had a 55.9% share of possession in their games, which is a group high, and have a pass completion rate of 83.7%, also a group high. Their goalscorers so far are Keisuke Honda (1), Takashi Inui (1), Shinji Kagawa (1) and Yuya Osako (1).
Japan has fielded the same starting 11 in both their matches and with qualification in their grasp they will most likely name an unchanged side again. Their probable lineup will be as follows – Kawashima in goal and in front of him Nagatomo, Shoji, Yoshida, Sakai, Shibasaki, Hasebe, Inui, Kagawa, Haraguchi, Osako
Poland Probable Lineups and Stats
Poland enters this match on a 2 game losing streak, having being beaten by both Senegal 2-1, and Colombia 3-0. After 2 matches Poland has scored a total of 1 goal, from an average of 10 shots per game, both group lows. They have conceded 5 goals, making them the leakiest defence in the group. Poland has received 3 yellow cards, and 0 red cards. Jacek Góralski, Grzegorz Krychowiak and Jan Bednarek have each been booked. Poland has had a 52.5% share of possession in their games, and have a pass completion rate of 80.1%. The only goal scorer for Poland so far is Grzegorz Krychowiak with one goal. There should be changes to the starting lineup after such a poor performance against Colombia. Expect Bednarek to be dropped and Milik and Glik to start. Poland’s probable lineup – Szczesny, Piszczek, Pazdan, Glik, Rybus, Krychowiak, Zielinski, Blaszczykowski, Milik, Grosicky, Lewandowski.
Japan v Poland – Head to Head
Japan and Poland have met twice before in international competition. Their first meeting took place in 1996 in the Carlsberg Cup in Hong Kong, where Japan defeated Poland 5-0. The second meeting was an international friendly in Lodz, Poland in 2002 where Japan ran out 2-0 victors.
Poland’s best finish at the World Cup came in 1974, and again, in 1982 where they claimed 3rd place. Perennial qualifiers since 1998, Japan’s best performance came in 2002, when, as hosts, they reached the last 16, a feat they repeated in 2010.
Expert Tip
Once again Poland showed that they are in a very poor form in this edition of the 2018 World Cup. They were defeated twice Colombia and Japan and now the Polish team is facing the strong team of Japan. Japan is first in the provisional ranking with four points and no loss so far. In our opinion, Poland is already in low spirits and will not be able to win any game from the group stage, so our tip is for a win for Japan. We can not rule out the fact that this meeting may also end in a draw. The most realistic prediction for this game is: Under 2.5 Goals or Correct Score of 2:0 for Japan.Interesting Facts and Information
- Japan wins 1st half in 12% of their games, Poland in 50% of their games.
- Both teams haven’t won their last match in this World Cup.
- In World Cup, Poland has better performance than Japan.
- Japan scores 1.67 goals when playing at home and Poland scores 3 goals when playing away (on average).
- When Japan leads 1-0 at home, they win in 66% of their games.
- When Poland leads 0-1 away, they win in 100% of their games.
- When Japan is down 0-1 home, they win 16% of their games.
- When Poland is down 1-0 away, they win 0% of their games.
- Japan have conceded a goal in each of their last 9 games.
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