Pick details
Sweden (1-1-0) / Japan (1-0-1)
07:00 PM EDT
The Line: Betting Odds: Japan -110 / Sweden +330 — Over/Under: 2.5
Japan Preview
Japan has 4 points in the tournament, with one win and one draw and are sitting on the 2nd place of Group F. They are coming off a 4-0 win over Tunisia, where they had 62% possession of the ball and 11 total shots, 5 of them on target. They had 89% completed passes, and more expected goals, with 2.13 compared to Tunisia’s 0.04.
Japan is averaging 3 goals per game, while allowing 1 goal per game. They have a +2.0 goal differential, 1.36 average expected goals, 0.42 average expected goals conceded and +0.9 average expected goal differential. They have 51% possession of the ball and 67% save percentage, while having 1 clean sheet.
Ayase Ueda, Daichi Kamada, Keito Nakamura are Japan’s top scorers with 2 goals each. Keito Sano, Keito Nakamura, Ayase Ueda are Japan’s top passers, with one assist each.
Sweden Preview
Sweden has 3 points in the tournament, with one win and one loss and are sitting on the 3rd place of Group F. They are coming off a 5-1 loss to Netherlands, where they had 49% possession of the ball and 16 total shots, 8 of them on target. They had 85% completed passes, and fewer expected goals, with 1.01 compared to Netherlands’ 2.60.
Sweden is averaging 3 goals per game, while allowing 3 goals per game. They have a +0.0 goal differential, 1.01 average expected goals, 2.61 average expected goals conceded and -1.6 average expected goal differential. They have 49% possession of the ball and 33% save percentage, while having 0 clean sheets.
Yasin Ayari is Sweden’s top scorer with 2 goals. Alexander Isak is Sweden’s top passer, with 3 assists.
Sweden vs Japan Prediction
Three of the four meetings between those two National Teams have been draws, but all games were friendlies.
In this Sweden vs Japan Prediction, Japan is coming as -110 favorites. I like Japan in this game, as they have been the more stable team in the two games of the World Cup so far. They have more expected goals per game and are superior in expected goals conceded, with just 0.42 as opposed to Sweden’s 2.61. I did not like what I saw from Sweden in their blowout loss to the Netherlands, so give me Japan on the moneyline in this one.


