Japan go into their second match at the Qatar 2022 World Cup with high motivation after beating Germany 2-1 in their opening game.
Japan rallied from a goal down to snatch all three points thanks to goals from Ritsu Dōan (75′) and Takuma Asano (83′) after an İlkay Gündoğan (33′) penalty had given the 2014 winners a first half lead.
The Sumarai Blue have conceded 6 goals in their previous six outings, while scoring 5 on the run.
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Japan have failed to prevent opponents from scoring in 5 of their previous 6 games, shipping 6 goals during that time.
Japan form DWLWLW
Costa Rica go into this game with the heaviest defeat so far in the World Cup as Spain triumphed 7-0 in their opening group game.
Costa Rica and their travelling supporters will be hoping that they can get a better result in this one to get any hopes of qualifying for the round of 16.
Costa Rica form WWDWWL
In their previous 6 matches, Costa Rica have scored 9 times, earning them a goals scored per game average of 1.5.
Japan Team News
The Samurai Blue look likely to deploy a 4-2-3-1 formation with Shuichi Gonda, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ko Itakura, Maya Yoshida, Yuto Nagatomo, Wataru Endo, Ao Tanaka, Junya Ito, Daichi Kamada, Takefusa Kubo and Takuma Asano likely starters.
Costa Rica Team News
There are possibilities that Los Ticos will utilise a 4-4-2 formation with Keylor Navas, Kendall Waston, Francisco Calvo, Oscar Duarte, Bryan Oviedo, Keysher Fuller, Yeltsin Tejeda, Celso Borges, Jewison Bennette, Joel Campbell and Anthony Contreras.
Japan vs Costa Rica Prediction
Costa Rica have the capability to find the net against Japan but the Sumarai Blue could snatch a 2-1 win in this one.
However, the safest stake for this encounter would be on under 3.5 goals.
