Add another Olympic Games, the two young representatives of Japanese and Spanish football will meet again. Both are heavy contenders for the championship, so tension and drama are naturally expected by the fans in the upcoming match. Who will be the one to advance towards the gold medal in this Olympic Paris? Join us for analysis and betting guide for the match taking place at 22:00 on August 2.
Analysis of Japan vs Spain from experts
Subjectivity has caused Spain to fall into a difficult knockout stage. Clearly, securing 2 easy victories against Uzbekistan and CH Dominica has led coach Santiago Denia to make a wrong choice in the recent match. Using too many inexperienced players made Spain completely inferior in the first half. Things only stabilized when the key players were brought onto the field in the second half. Going into the upcoming important match, Coach Denia will surely have to use his best lineup, especially in the central midfield positions of Barrios and Fermin Lopez, who always bring stability to Spain’s midfield.
On the other hand, Japan is one of the teams that has not conceded a goal after the group stage. Their team’s discipline in playing is a factor that brings certainty to the Blue Samurai. Surely, the representative of Asia will cause quite a few troubles for the Spanish Olympic team in the upcoming match. Another advantage for Japan is the consistency in the professional level between the first team and the substitutes. This was evident in the recent match against Israel, where despite Coach Go Oiwa fielding many players who had not played much, Japan still dominated and won against the European team.
Japan vs Spain Odds
The biggest issue for Spain in this Olympic Games is their defense. Their central defender pair does not bring much confidence. In all 3 matches in the group stage, no team was able to keep a clean sheet against the Spanish team. According to experts, this may continue to happen as Japan’s attack is still performing well. As usual, Yamamoto is still a very good connection point between the lines of the Japanese Olympic team. This midfielder has the ability to make very good passes, especially the excellent through balls for the wingers Yamada and Hosoya. This will surely be one of the major threats that Spain needs to pay attention to.
Yamamoto’s counterpart in the upcoming match will be two players currently playing in Spain. Fermin Lopez and Barrios seem to be ideal complements to each other. While Lopez excels in passing and creating opportunities, Barrios is truly a ball recovery machine. The influence of this midfield duo is significant. When they entered the field in the 63rd minute of the recent match, both of them regained control for Spain and contributed greatly to the late equalizer. On the Japanese side, Coach Oiwa is still satisfied with his top striker pair. Both Shota Fujio and Shunsuke Mito have scored 2 goals each in the Olympic arena. Their mobility and wide-ranging abilities have provided them with many opportunities.Surely both will constantly shake the goal of the Spanish Olympic team in the upcoming match.Information about the squads of Spain vs Japan
Japan: Full strength. Spain: Full strength.
Predicted line-up for the match Japan vs Spain
Spain (formation 4-3-3): Tenas, Sanchez, Garcia, Cubarsi, Miranda, Barrios, Lopez, Baena, Oroz, Ruiz, Gomez. Japan (formation 4-3-3): Kokubo, Hiroki, Takai, Nishio, Ohata, Fujita, Yamamoto, Araki, Yamada, Hosoya, Saito. Japan vs Spain betting odds: 2-1