Vietnam vs Japan

Japan travel to the My Dinh National Stadium to take on out-of-sorts Vietnam in a seemingly must-win World Cup qualifying fixture.

The odds are heavily stacked against Vietnam, who have so far lived up to their status of group whipping boys, having lost all four Group B fixtures by an aggregate score of 10-4. Worryingly, barring a 1-0 home defeat to Australia on Matchday 1, the hosts have conceded precisely three goals in each of their remaining three third-round outings, putting their defensive woes on full display. Though a brace of 1-0 defeats in their last two H2H meetings with Japan suggests they may not suffer another humiliation here, another underwhelming result is definitely on the cards. The ‘Golden Star Warriors’ have lost all four historical encounters against this opposition, scoring a measly one goal while conceding ten in return.

In the meantime, Japan pulled off a crucial 2-1 home win over Australia last time out to mitigate the damage after losing two of their opening three Group B matches (W1). A lack of consistency has seen the ‘Samuari Blue’ alternate between winning (2) and losing (2) across their four third-round fixtures so far, with three of the matches won/lost in that time yielding the identical 1-0 scoreline. That exact full-time score has been seen in three of Japan’s last four games on foreign soil (W2, L2), which highlights the possibility for a cagey, low-scoring affair in Hanoi. But, with Hajime Moriyasu’s side losing just two of their 13 road trips since exiting the 2018 World Cup in Russia (W9, D2, L2), Japan will be confident of fulfilling their status of overwhelming pre-match favorites here.