Japan will welcome Saudi Arabia to the Saitama Stadium on Tuesday for the eighth round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers group stage game.
Venue: Saitama Stadium (Saitama)
Key Statistics
Japan have conceded only three goals in this World Cup qualifiers campaign (level with Saudi Arabia).
The hosts have kept three clean sheets in a row in their last three games.
They have lost just one of their last eight home games, winning the other seven.
Saudi Arabia are unbeaten in this WCQ campaign (W6, D1).
They have kept five clean sheets in their last six WCQ games.
They have not scored more than a goal in their last six games.
Head to head
The two teams have met 17 times in the past across all competitions, with Japan winning ten while Saudi Arabia have six wins.
Latest performances in all competitions
Japan: W-W-W-W-L
Saudi Arabia: W-L-D-L-W
Japan
Japan took a step closer to the FIFA World Cup qualification when they defeated their close rivals, China, in their last outing.
The Samurai Blue beat China 2-0 in that game thanks to goals from Yūya Ōsako and Junya Ito. The win made it four straight wins for the hosts, who come into this game sitting second in the group, five points behind their visitors.
They are looking to qualify automatically for the World Cup and so are desperate to win this tie and ensure that Australia, who are currently occupying the playoff spot, do not overtake them in the standings. The Socceroos are just one point behind Japan and can go above them if they win and Japan drop points in this game.
Hajime Moriyasu’s side should be confident of winning, though, given that they have won each of their last four matches since losing 1-0 to the Saudis in October last year.
Their wins have been built on a solid defence that has not conceded a goal in their last three games. Overall, they have shipped in just three goals in this qualifier round. However, they will have to do better in attack, given that they have scored just seven goals in seven qualifier games.
Possible Japan starting line-up
Shūichi Gonda; Yuto Nagatomo, Yuta Nakayama, Naomichi Ueda, Hiroki Sakai; Wataru Endo; Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Takumi Minamino, Junya Ito; Yuya Osako.
Injured: Takehiro Tomiyasu
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia will look to book their place in the 2022 FIFA World Cup when they travel to Saitama this Tuesday.
The visitors are currently sitting top of group B and need to win this game to guarantee them an automatic spot in the November tournament, to be held in Qatar.
They come into this tie on the back of a 1-0 win over Oman. The victory, which was secured courtesy of a 48th-minute goal by Faras Al Brikan, was Saudi Arabia’s sixth win of the qualifiers and extended their unbeaten run in the qualifiers to seven games (D1).
They will look to keep their unbeaten record intact. However, Hervé Renard’s men have won just one of their last four games in all competitions following recent defeats to Morocco (1-0) and Jordan (1-0), sandwiched between a draw with Palestine (1-1) all in the FIFA Arab Cup.
Possible Saudi Arabia starting line-up
Mohammed Al-Owais; Sultan Al-Ghanam, Abdulelah Ali Awadh Al-Amri, Ali Al-Bulaihi, Yasser Al-Shahrani; Mohamed Kanno, Abdulellah Al-Malki; Fahad Al-Muwallad, Sami Al-Najei, Salem Al-Dawsari; Firas Al-Buraikan.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
Japan 2-1 Saudi Arabia
