Germany v Japan: Germany out to make amends

Germany could hardly have been more impressive in qualifying, winning nine of their 10 matches and only conceding four goals, although a 2-1 loss at home to North Macedonia showed they can still have their off days.

There are some obvious weaknesses to Hansi Flick’s squad, with the absence of the injured Timo Werner meaning they look short on quality up front while they failed to keep a clean sheet during their six Nations League matches this year.

Japan’s best players are in attacking areas so this has the makings of an entertaining game, and the first of our Germany v Japan betting tips is a German victory with over 2.5 total goals at 23/20.

Japan can cause a scare

Japan reached the last 16 four years ago and almost caused a huge upset when paired with one of the European heavyweights.

The Samurai Blue went 2-0 up against Belgium before eventually losing 3-2 and will hope for a similarly fast start here.

A 1-0 defeat against a strong Brazil team in a friendly in June again showed they can be competitive against the top teams.

There is a sense that they may fall just short again but World Cup odds of 11/5 for Japan to score first look worth considering, along with 8/1 for Germany to win from behind.

Gundogan on the spot

Werner’s absence with an ankle injury means Germany are missing their leading scorer of the Flick era.

Kai Havertz is the 4/1 favourite in the first goalscorer betting but this is a team that often shares the goals around.

Rather than backing the Chelsea man, there is better value to be found elsewhere and Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan appeals at 13/2, especially if he is on penalty-taking duties as he was when he opened the scoring from the spot in September’s 3-3 draw with England at Wembley.

Alternatively, Antonio Rudiger’s aerial threat at set-pieces is well known and he scored five goals for Chelsea last season while he has two for Real Madrid this season.

For the last of our Germany v Japan predictions, we’ll take 14/1 for the centre-back to find the net at anytime.

View the latest World Cup odds

All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication