AMEDEUS' WORLD CUP SAUCY SET-PIECE!
- Handicapper
- Amedeus Mastrangelo
- League
- SOCCER
- Competition
- Croatia vs Japan
- Time
- 12/05/2022 10:00 AM
- Bet Type
- Goal Line
- Pick
-
Japan +0.5 (-115)
(Consensus 3)
- Outcome
- Win
- Analysis
- Japan is coming into this match after finishing 1st place in their group with 6 points from 2 wins and 1 loss. They ended up winning their group but they did it in very odd fashion as their 1 loss came against the weakest team in the group, Costa Rica in a 1-0 loss, but both of their wins came against the 2 stronger teams in Germany and Spain, both matches ending as 2-1 wins. They still played very well in all of their matches though, even their 1 loss. Their worst match of the group stage was their 1st match against Germany, they ended up winning that match 2-1 after scoring on 2 good counter attacks but they were absolutely dominated in that match and did not deserve to win. They played much better in their last 2 matches though, even in their 1-0 loss they were the better team and dominated Costa Rica for the entire 90 mins. Their last match was very similar to their Germany match in the 1st half as they were dominated by Spain but they started to press in the 2nd half and were much better as they scored 2 goals to win the match and even started to control the midfield in that half. They are going up against a Croatia side that finished 2nd place in their group with 5 points after 1 win and 2 draws. Croatia has played very well on defense in their 3 matches as they kept clean sheets in 2 of those and have only allowed 1 goal in their 3 matches. They have not been very good on their attack though as they have struggled to find the net and even create scoring chances for themselves in their matches. They went scoreless in 2 of their matches against the better teams in their group while their only 4 goals in the tournament all came in the same match against Canada who went on to finish 0-0-3, and Canada also gave Croatia a lot of extra motivation for that match with some dumb comments said by their coach. Other than that one match where Croatia was really motivated to win, they have not looked very good in their other 2 matches and they really struggled in their match against Morocco when they were pressed by the aggressive play style the entire match. Japan will play a very similar style here as they will not be able to possess the ball as much with that very good Croatia midfield but Japan will be able to press them the entire match and will not allow Croatia to sit back with possession and get comfortable in the match. Japan will keep them unsettled the entire time and with the way their attack has been in these matches, they will struggle to score on this good Japan defense that has kept 2 really good attacks to just 1 goal in each of their matches. Japan will be able to prevent Croatia from getting in a rhythm with their attack and Japan has already shown they can win matches without much possession of the ball. Japan will either win this match or drag it out the full 90 mins for a draw here which will send it into ET, either way take Japan +0.5 here.
