Japan vs Iraq
World Cup Qualifier – Asian Qualifier
Date: Thursday, 6th October 2016
Kick-off: 11:35 UK
Venue: Saitama Stadium (Saitama).
Japan suffered a shock defeat in their opening Group B qualifier at home to the UAE, but they bounced back with a 2-0 victory over Thailand and are now searching for a second straight win on Thursday. Iraq provide the opposition this week, but the visitors wont hold out much hope of taking anything from this game after they lost their opening two qualifiers against Australia and Saudi Arabia. SkyBet are offering just 2/7 on Japan winning this match, making the hosts big favourites. With a draw at 4/1 and a win for Iraq at 9/1, it appears that the bookies see little chance in the visitors taking anything from Thursday’s qualifier. Its hard to argue with those odds when you compare the two squads on paper, but Japan did lose against UAE in their own backyard so who is to say Iraq couldn’t deal out the same humiliation.
Japan vs Iraq: Head-to-Head Stats
Japan are unbeaten in the last 7 meetings with Iraq, with the last 6 being wins. It is also interesting to know that Iraq haven’t scored in the last 5 matches against Japan.
Their latest meeting was in a friendly on June 2015, which finished in a 4-0 win for the hosts at the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. Both Keisuke Honda and Shinji Okazaki were on the score-sheet then.
Japan and Iraq also met during the third stage of 2014 World Cup qualifiers, with both legs ending in the same 1-0 wins for Japan.
Japan vs Iraq: Prediction
Japan are strong favourites to win this fixture based on their strong record in Asia and the quality of players in their squad. They have some ground to clear following the defeat to UAE in the opening fixture and are well aware that they cannot drop any more points, especially at home. And Iraq are a side not in good shape after losing two matches in a row. Their confidence will be low and are also win-less against Japan in the previous 7 meetings. The hosts must win this and are very likely to keep a clean-sheet.
Keisuke Honda is the player who pulls all the strings from midfield for the Samurais. He has already scored 7 goals in the qualifiers and is a notable threat from set-pieces. It is a good option to back him to score any-time during the game.
Correct Score Prediction: Japan 2-0 Iraq at 5.50 (9/2).
Japan vs Iraq: Bet Tips
Japan to win first half at 1.83 (5/6)
Keisuke Honda to score any-time.
