Germany v Japan: Germany out to make amends

Germany v Japan betting tips, odds and preview

Japan will be hoping to catch Germany cold as they bid to prevent European dominance of their World Cup group at Qatar 2022.

Germany and Spain are clear favourites to go through from this pool but Japan have appeared at the last six finals and reached the last 16 on three occasions so are not without hope.

The Group E match at the Khalifa International Stadium kicks off at 1pm and is live on ITV.

Werner absence a concern

Germany’s World Cup pedigree makes them one of the leading contenders in the outright World Cup odds as they bid for a fifth global crown.

They will be keen to make amends for a poor showing in Russia four years ago though when they made a dismal defence of their title and crashed out in the group stage after losing to Mexico and South Korea.

They face Asian opposition again in Qatar so Japan will believe they can cause an upset despite Germany winning odds of 1/2 showing the size of the task facing them.

𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘 🇩🇪

Here it is – our 26-man squad for the 2022 @FIFAWorldCup in Qatar 🏆 pic.twitter.com/U3KGoU5lnz

— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) November 10, 2022

Germany could hardly have been more impressive in qualifying, winning nine of their 10 matches and only conceding four goals, although a 2-1 loss at home to North Macedonia showed they can still have their off days.

There are some obvious weaknesses to Hansi Flick’s squad, with the absence of the injured Timo Werner meaning they look short on quality up front while they failed to keep a clean sheet during their six Nations League matches this year.

Japan’s best players are in attacking areas so this has the makings of an entertaining game, and the first of our Germany v Japan betting tips is a German victory with over 2.5 total goals at 23/20.

Japan can cause a scare

Japan reached the last 16 four years ago and almost caused a huge upset when paired with one of the European heavyweights.

The Samurai Blue went 2-0 up against Belgium before eventually losing 3-2 and will hope for a similarly fast start here.

A 1-0 defeat against a strong Brazil team in a friendly in June again showed they can be competitive against the top teams.

There is a sense that they may fall just short again but World Cup odds of 11/5 for Japan to score first look worth considering, along with 8/1 for Germany to win from behind.

Gundogan on the spot

Werner’s absence with an ankle injury means Germany are missing their leading scorer of the Flick era.

Kai Havertz is the 4/1 favourite in the first goalscorer betting but this is a team that often shares the goals around.

Rather than backing the Chelsea man, there is better value to be found elsewhere and Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan appeals at 13/2, especially if he is on penalty-taking duties as he was when he opened the scoring from the spot in September’s 3-3 draw with England at Wembley.

Alternatively, Antonio Rudiger’s aerial threat at set-pieces is well known and he scored five goals for Chelsea last season while he has two for Real Madrid this season.

For the last of our Germany v Japan predictions, we’ll take 14/1 for the centre-back to find the net at anytime.

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All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication