Team News
Uruguay
Uruguay may have won over 10 Ecuadorian players earlier this week. But, the victory came with a fee for La Celeste, with Oscar Tabarez losing service from main midfielder Matias Vecino, who had taken a thigh injury that would make him unavailable for the rest of the tournament.
The Uruguay head coach will be forced to make at least one change to what looks like a complete team against Ecuador. Posarez possible replacement options for Tabarez are Lucas Torreira and Federico Valverde, with the first likely to get a nod to Japan.
The rest are unlikely to see change, with Tabarez known to be very confident in the famous saying "Why fix something that isn't broken". Thus, Uruguay will line up in a typical 4-4-2 formation in Tabarez, with wing defenders - Martin Caceres and Diego Laxalt - most of which provide wide.
Diego Godin and Jose Maria Gimenez will form a solid central defensive partnership that will provide protection for Fernando Muslera in front of goal. Up front in midfield, Torreira will accompany Rodrigo in the midfield area, with Nicolas Lodeiro and Nahitan Nandez becoming wide midfielders.
Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani must continue a strong strike partnership and both will continue by scoring against Japan after netting a goal each time out.
Possible composition of players (4-4-2): Muslera; Caceres, Gimenez, Godin, Laxalt; Nandez, Torreira, Bentancur, Lodeiro; Suarez, Cavani
Japan
On paper it looks as if Japan was flown out of the park by Chile in their 2019 Copa America opening match. But, the Blue Samurai are actually quite competitive and will lament the good chances they reject during the match.
Therefore, one of the main problems aside was the ineffectiveness of Ayase Ueda in front of the goal. The 20-year-old is probably the only major change made by Hajime Moriyasu against Uruguay, with Shinji Okazaki expected to replace him and wearing a captain's armband for Japan.
Real Madrid's latest signing Takefusa Kubo is expected to maintain its place in the strike partnership, where he will compete against Okazaki. Meanwhile, like Okazaki, Gaku Shibasaki is a player who will have a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.
With Okazaki, Shibasaki is the only other field player who has more than 35 appearances under his belt for the national team and he will need to use his experience to guide young teams against cultured opponents such as Uruguay. The 27-year-old is likely to have Yuta Nakayama to be accompanied, with Nakayama playing the role of Anchor Man.
Daizen Maeda, who is one of the seven players who made their debut in the opening match of the Copa America in Japan, must maintain his position on the right side, from where he will be seen moving in the middle of the field and creating overload in the middle area with Kubo, Okazaki and Shoya Nakajima.
In the back, a young and inexperienced full-back Teruki Hara and Daiki Sugioka will likely defend their place. The 20-year-old duo will be tasked with providing width in the final third while also present when Uruguay move forward. The wing-back pair will hope to be guided behind by Naomichi Ueda and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Possible Arrangement of Players (4-4-2): Osako; Hara, Naomichi Ueda, Tomiyasu, Sugioka; Maeda, Shibasaki, Nakayama, Nakajima; Kubo, Okazaki
Uruguay vs Japan Head to Head
Head to Head Last game Last games Last games
Uruguay Losses 3 W / 1 D / 1 L 0 W / 0 D / 0 L
Japan Wins 1 W / 1 D / 3 L 0 W / 0 D / 0 L
Last match between countries: 16.10.2018 Japan - Uruguay 4: 3; Takumi Minamino 10 ′, 66 ′, Yuya Osako 36 ′, Doan Ritsu 59 ′; Gaston Pereiro 28 ′, Edinson Cavani 57 ′, Jonathan Rodriguez 75 ′
Last match on Uruguayan soil: In each of the five previous meetings Japan was registered as the host.
Worth mentioning: Japan went winless in four matches clashing with Uruguay, before winning their last meeting in 2018. Four matches featured more than 3.5 goals and saw both sides find a way past the opposing goalkeeper, while not games were produced under 1, 5 goals.
Key Statistics
Uruguay have a strong record in head-to-head battles with Japan, having won four of the seven meetings between the two sides (D1 L2).
Uruguay are unbeaten in their four matches so far in 2019, having recorded clean sheets in each of these matches. La Celeste has scored 14 goals in this period.
In contrast, Japan failed to keep clean sheets in each of their last four matches.
The Blue Samurai only managed to win two of their last six matches (D1 L3), with one of the losses including their final AFC Asian Cup defeat.
Edinson Cavani scored his first Copa America goal in a 4-0 win over Ecuador. It was his 11th appearance in the competition.
Prediction of Uruguay vs Japan
Uruguay is the most successful team in this competition with 15 titles, while Japan is an invitation from Asia. The latter might be the top dog on their continent, but taking a heavyweight in Latin America, in their own backyard will prove to be a completely different story.
The start itself was a wrong move for Japan, with them losing 4-0 to Chile, while Uruguay rose to high confidence with a 4-0 win over Ecuador. Luis Suarez's side won their last four games in a row and scored 14 goals from this match while keeping a clean sheet in all four.
Japan, on the other hand, have not won in four of their last six matches and failed to score in three of their last five matches.
Coming to their face-to-face meetings, South America won three of the last four clashes, and scored two or more goals in all meetings so far.
By all means, the extraordinary favorite is Uruguay.
