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Japan host El Salvador at the Toyota Stadium in Toyota on Thursday for the 2023 Kirin Challenge Cup, looking to pick up their first win.
The Samurai Blues have so far drawn against Uruguay 1-1 in their opening game before losing 2-1 to Colombia, with both results coming in March this year.
Now, Hajime Moriyasu's side face El Salvador and Peru in their last two games in the cup and they will be looking to finish with a bang.
A total of 26 players have been summoned for this month's double-header, including Real Sociedad star Takefusa Kubo, Eintracht Frankfurt's Daichi Kamada and Brighton & Hove Albion star Kaoru Mitoma.
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Ryoya Morishita, Takumu Kawamura and Sota Kawasaki are the only three uncapped players in the side.
El Salvador play their first game in the cup and will be looking to cause an upset against the side that played at the 2022 FIFA World Cup last year.
It hasn't been a good year for the Cuscatlecos so far, though. They have lost both their outings in 2023 - a pair of 1-0 defeats to Honduras and the United States in March friendlies.
Japan vs El Salvador Head-To-Head and Key Numbers
- Japan and El Salvador have met just once before and it was in the 2019 Kirin Challenge Cup, where the Samurai Blue pulled off a 2-0 victory.
- El Salvador have lost their last four games and remain winless in their last six.
- Japan are winless in their last three games.
- Japan's last five goals have been scored by five different players - Ritsu Doan, Ao Tanaka, Daizen Maeda, Takuma Nishimura and Kaoru Mitoma.
- El Salvador have failed to score in their last three games (all 1-0 defeats to Nicaragua, Honduras and the United States).
- Japan are ranked 20th in the world while El Salvador are 75th.
Japan vs El Salvador Prediction
Japan have most of their World Cup stars available for the cup and boast superior squad quality on paper compared to El Salvador. Having failed to win either of their games in the Kirin Cup, the Blue Samurai could play their best lineup to finally find a win.
The Cuscatlecos went down 2-0 to Japan four years ago and a similar result could be expected.
Prediction: Japan 2-0 El Salvador
Japan vs El Salvador Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Japan
Tip 2 - Goals over/under 2.5: Under 2.5
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: No
