Japan will take on Mexico in an international friendly on Tuesday and it will be an interesting battle between two sides that have looked really formidable of late. Since football resumed post the Covid-19 break, neither Japan nor Mexico have lost a single game.
Japan beat Panama 1-0 last week thanks to Takumi Minamino scoring from the spot in the 61st minute of the game. They will face Mexico on the back of two successive wins with the first one coming against Ivory Coast in October where the Japanese registered a win thanks to a stoppage time goal from Naomichi Ueda.
On the other hand, Mexico came from behind to beat South Korea on Saturday. After Hwang Ui-jo opened the scoring for the South Koreans, Mexico whizzed past them in a three-minute flurry where Raul Jimenez, Uriel Antuna and Carlos Salcedo all scored between the 67th and the 70th minute.
Kwon Hyung-won pulled one back for South Korea in the 87th minute but it came too late for them. While Mexico have scored plenty of goals so far, Japan have been able to keep three cleansheets in their last three games. As such, this will be a contest worth watching.
Japan vs Mexico Head-to-Head
Japan and Mexico have faced each other thrice till date. Japan have won once while Mexico were victorious in both the other games. The last time these two sides clashed was in the FIFA Confederations Cup and Mexico won the game 2-1 thanks to Javier Hernandez brace.
Japan form guide: W-L-D-W-W
Mexico form guide: W-W-W-D-W
Japan vs Mexico Team News
Japan are without the likes of Arminia Bielefeld midfielder Ritsu Doan as well as Red Bull Salzburg winger Masaya Okugawa. There have been no new reported injuries.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Alan Pulido, Eric Gutierrez, Javier Hernandez and Jose Juan Macias are all unavailable for Mexico. Other than that, no new injuries have been reported.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Japan vs Mexico Predicted Lineups
Japan Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Shuichi Gonda, Ueda, Maya Yoshida, Itakura, Nagamoto, Hashimoto, Daichi Kamada, Gaku Shibasaki, Koji Miyoshi, Takefusa Kubo, Takumi
Mexico predicted XI: Guillermo Ochoa, Jorge Sanchez, Nestor Araujo, Luis Romo, Hector Moreno, Edson Alvarez, Carlos Rodriguez, Francisco Reyes, Jesus Corona, Hirving Lozano and Raul Jimenez
Japan vs Mexico Prediction
This will be an interesting matchup as Mexico have not found it difficult to score goals while the Japanese have been resolute in defence.
Prediction: Japan 1-2 Mexico