Japan vs. Costa Rica Betting Tips: Asano a generous price to find the net
The first World Cup game on Sunday sees Japan take on Costa Rica in Group E. We’ve previewed the action and provided you with two tips that we like the look of.
Japan produced a memorable victory to see off Germany in their World Cup opener and will now be looking to build on that success with another three points against Costa Rica. The Samurai Blue have put themselves in a strong position to reach the knockout stages, something they have achieved on three previous occasions including in 2018 when losing to Belgium in the Round of 16.
In stark contrast Costa Rica’s World Cup campaign could not have got off to a much worse start with a 7-0 pasting at the hands of Spain. These two sides have played each other five times in history with Japan winning four, however all of those have been friendlies.
The most recent of those was in 2018 when Japan came out 3-0 winners and the bookmakers fancy them to come out on top once again with the odds-on price of just 2/5 on show for them to collect the three points. For those who fancy Costa Rica to bounce back in style and get the win, 13/2 is on offer, while the draw can be backed at 10/3 with most firms.
Japan vs Costa Rica Tips
Both of our selections for Japan against Costa Rica come with Unibet where punters can receive up to £40 bonus if their first bet loses. Takuma Asano came off the bench to score the winner against Germany on Wednesday and should now be rewarded with a place in the starting XI.
In that historic victory over Germany, Asano came off the bench and let off five shots in just 34 minutes. The 28-year-old has only scored one goal for his club Bochum this season but will be full of confidence after his goal on Wednesday. Bet365 go just 6/4 that Asano finds the net against Costa Rica who shipped seven against Spain. With the 33/10 on show from Unibet he looks well overpriced and could well shorten before kick-off.
We’ve also picked out a player in the ‘to be carded’ market who we like in the form of Costa Rica’s Bryan Oviedo. A man who spent many of his years at Everton and in his final season with the Toffees he was booked in 50% of his Premier League appearances.
He then moved to Sunderland and was shown nine yellows in 31 league appearances and with Costa Rica needing a result here to stand any chance of making it out of the group, it would be no surprise to see Oviedo putting his body on the line.
19/5 is the best price on show at the time of writing although it could be worth shopping around closer to kick-off as more firms open their markets.
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