Japan v Greece Tip

A battle of two teams who suffered opening game defeats means that a draw is of little value to either here. The need for victory more naturally suits the Japanese who are inclined to go on the front foot and they should emerge victorious here.

The Blue Samurai arrived in Brazil off the back of five straight victories, including one over Belgium and one over Costa Rica. That latter result, along with the 2-2 draw with the Netherlands which preceded the winning run, now needs upgrading after what we’ve seen in the competition. Japan also led against Ivory Coast but they were caught out by the power of Drogba once he came off the bench.

But they should have too much quality for a poor Greece team who were soundly beaten by Colombia. Konstantinos Mitroglou was only fit enough to play 26 minutes of that match and even if he starts here, it will only signify an act of desperation.

Fernando Santos has to go for it and I don’t expect the Euro 2004 champions to go down without at least a fight. Four of Japan’s last five victories came with their victims at least finding the net. That scenario is a best price of 21/5 with Coral here.