Japan vs Iceland Prediction: Samurai Blue to extend their winning streak

Japan begin their final preparations for the FIFA World Cup with a friendly against Iceland on Sunday in Tokyo (7:25pm local/11:25am BST). The Samurai Blue are on a five-game winning streak that has seen them defeat both Brazil and England.

Below you will find my Japan vs Iceland predictions, supported by the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Kaoru Mitoma was a surprising omission from Japan's World Cup squad, which has been as outsiders as a bold choice by boss Hajime Moriyasu.

Captain and Liverpool squad player Wataru Endo is expected to feature in midfield, and he may be joined by fellow Premier League stars Daichi Kamada and Ao Tanaka.

Celtic's Daizen Maeda should feature in attack given his goalscoring form over the last few weeks.

Football Odds

Iceland have two forwards in their ranks who will be hoping to make their debuts on Sunday in the form of Benony Breki Andresson and Viktor Dadason.

Gylfi Sigurddson is their all-time top scorer with 28 goals and he looks to earn his 86th cap this weekend.

Japan vs Iceland Odds

Japan are the 1/4 favourites to win and claim their sixth straight victory.

Iceland's past two outings have been draws, with the stalemate here marketed at 9/2. The visitors are a 9/1 bet to come out on top here.

Japan's Ayase Ueda is the favourite to score anytime at 9/10.

To Win To Nil - Japan @ 1/1

With the momentum built over the several months, Japan will be going to the World Cup with confidence, and they will look to maintain this against Iceland on Sunday.

The Samurai Blue have picked up some impressive wins lately and against bigger fish than Iceland. I'm confident that they will come out on top here, particularly as they are on home soil.

I like the look of their EVS price to win to nil, which they have accomplished in each of their past four successes. It's also worth noting that Iceland have failed to score in their previous two defeats.

Total Goals - Under 3.5 @ 8/13

Japan didn't need to blow England or Scotland away to be deemed the better side in their March fixtures and so they won't mind a low-scoring victory on Sunday if it means they can keep their hot streak going.

The Samurai Blue are less than two weeks away from the World Cup finals and at this stage, the number one priority is avoiding injuries. Moriyasu will want to get some good minutes into his players but he'll also want to preserve them as well.

As such, I reckon there won't be any more than three goals in this contest, which has been the case in each of the hosts' last four outings.

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