Japan v Greece Predictions & Betting Odds – World Cup 2014

Blue Samurai backed to take out Greece

Japan v Greece
Japan v Greece

Japan v Greece World Cup 2014, 19th June Betting Preview

Two sides who suffered defeats in their first matches at World Cup 2014 and now they need to try and pick up the pieces. Given Greece’s lack of just about anything in their opening defeat against Colombia, it is Japan who are running as favourites to get a win on the board.

Japan v Greece Betting Tips

This is the first meeting between these two nations at the World cup. They have only met once before in history and that was in the 2005 Confederations Cup. It was Japan who took a 1-0 win on that occasion. The Blue samurai gave a good account of themselves in their opener against the Ivory Coast, but couldn’t hold on to the lead which they took. That defeat snapped a five match winning streak for them though. Against European sides at the World Cup, Japan have won two of seven, losing three.

Keisuke Honda has been involved in four of Japan’s last five goals at the world Cup (3 goals, 1 assist) and therefore look to him to be an influence again. Honda is 3/1 in the anytime goalscorer market, with Shinji Okazaki and Yuya Osako at 2/1 for the Japanese. Despite Greece wanting to come out and prove that they can play attacking football at the World Cup, it is likely that most of the pressing with come from the Asians.

Greece have now won just one of their last six matches played, and not too surprisingly, for a low scoring side, they failed to open up Colombia in their opener. Greece have only faced Asian opponents once before at the World Cup, and on that occasion they lost 2-0 against South Korea four years ago at South Africa 2010. Greece have now lost six of their seven World Cup games, and because they threaten so little, would expect this to go under 2.5 goals. Greece have failed to score in six of their seven World Cup games so far and they have yet to record a clean sheet in any of them. Indeed, with their defence being the strongest aspect of their game, the fact that they have conceded an average of 2.6 goals per game at the World Cup, shows that they may not have much to offer here.

Japan v Greece Betting Odds

Japan 5/4, Draw 5/2, Greece 12/5

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Japan v Greece Predictions

It is hard to pick out great qualities about the Greeks enough to back them for a win here. The enterprise should come from Japan in the match, and the Blue Samurai are value to put three points in their pockets in this one. They’ll probably just have that extra zip in their game, and it will probably be a low scoring one.