DRAFT Preview - GW460 Japan WC Qualifier (Patreon)

International break is upon us this GW with Japan playing on Thursday night in a World Cup Qualifier vs North Korea

Standings

• Japan have beaten Syria and Mynamar so far
• Are firm favourites to move into the next round
• If they win their home and away games vs North Korea in the next 2 games, they qualify
• Competition is fierce for lots of spots. In general manager still has his favs and doesnt rotate til qualification secure/the game is ridiculously easy (which this isnt!).  

Predicted Lineups

Important to note the %s used here. If no %, it means I see them as a starter and no known risks. For sorare, its about there scorer potential so check out KEY PLAYERS even subs have a way :)

When 75% or below - there is some risk involved. My main aim with these is to show where risk/potential DNPs are lurking.

I base these %s on info I read from various sources including comments from the manager and reading a lot of local Japanese news coverage/message boards. Saying that, there will always be unknowns including last minute injury/illness of a player etc.

Always do your own research when making picks. For SO5, it can make sense to take some calculated risks depending on the potential score and the rest of your team/prize pool.

Japan vs North Korea

Japan

• Training only started today and involved a handful of player. Lots of players are travelling from europe and will only join light training Tuesday/Wednesday
• The side above is based on the general hierarchy of players. The manager is loyal so even though Itakura had a poor Asia Cup, I see him as first choice CB in this squad.
• This game takes place in Japan so domestic players could have some edge with fitness/not travelling. Eg Maikuma I see having an edge for RB even though lots of competition.
• Osako is my firm fav to be starting keeper. He was the pref choice before injury meant he missed the asian cup. He is also in excellent form for Hiroshima.
• Kubo and Tanaka are 2 europe based players who have already started training today which may help there chances of starting the first game.
• Endo, Ueda and Machida all played yesterday for their respective european teams and turnover is tightest. Eg they may not start training til Wednesday. TBC
• Sano is injured and out of the squad. Japan may call up a replacement midfielder, likely squad/bench player.
• Japan face North Korea in the reverse tie 5 days after this game ( 26th March)

Finish

Hope you found this useful!

I will update this tomorrow based on info that comes out in training esp about players expected to arrive from Europe and comments from the manager