Belgium vs Japan Preview

Belgium were placed in an interesting group with England the only obstacle to them topping the table.

The fixture list even made it easy for them as they were made to play the Three Lions in their last group by which time they should have qualified.

They started their campaign with a 3-0 win over Panama with all the goals coming in the second half after the World Cup debutants had surprisingly held Roberto Martinez’s men to a draw in the first half.

The Belgians turned on the style in their second game and they beat Tunisia 5-2.

Their last match against England also ended in a 1-0 win for them, but it was truly under-strength Belgian side against a reserve England team.

This game represents their first major test in reaching the next round and it will be interesting to see how they perform.

Japan came into this round of 16 because they had 2 yellow cards less than Senegal who collected those cautions in the final 20 minutes of their last group game so they will be looking to prove that they deserve to be in the last 16 of the tournament.

The Japanese started their campaign with a 2-1 win over a ten man Colombia, before drawing 2-2 against Senegal.

They lost their last group game to the previously winless Poland 1-0 which showed that they are not best of teams afterall.

The Japanese have just two wins from their last nine games.

Unsurprisingly, Beligum are strong odds-on favourites to come out on top.

Japan will most likely sit back and absorb pressure in an attempt to keep this game extremely tight.

Possible starting lineups:

Belgium

Japan

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions

Belgium

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
W	England		0-1		Belgium	28 Jun, 2018	FIFA World Cup
W	Belgium		5-2		Tunisia	23 Jun, 2018	FIFA World Cup
W	Belgium		3-0		Panama	18 Jun, 2018	FIFA World Cup
W	Belgium		4-1		Costa Rica	11 Jun, 2018	International Friendly
W	Belgium		3-0		Egypt	6 Jun, 2018	International Friendly

Japan

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
L	Japan		0-1		Poland	28 Jun, 2018	FIFA World Cup
D	Japan		2-2		Senegal	24 Jun, 2018	FIFA World Cup
W	Colombia		1-2		Japan	19 Jun, 2018	FIFA World Cup
W	Japan		4-2		Paraguay	12 Jun, 2018	International Friendly
L	Switzerland		2-0		Japan	8 Jun, 2018	International Friendly

H2H