Uruguay vs Japan
Copa America
Date: Friday, 21 June 2019
Kick-off at 00.00 UK/ 01.00 CET
Venue: Arena do Grêmio (Porto Alegre).
Team News
Uruguay
Inter midfielder Matias Vecino has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament in a blow to Uruguay.
Lucas Torreira is expected to replace him in midfield. No other changes are expected by the South American outfit.
Japan
There were 16 uncapped players in Japan's squad before the start of this summer's tournament, as they have taken an entirely experimental approach to the 2019 Copa America.
Japan lost 4-0 to Chile in their first game of the tournament and could make wholesale changes here. It's almost impossible to predict how they will line up against Uruguay.
Prediction
Uruguay 2-0 Japan
The match pits two sides that seem to be on the opposite end of the spectrum as far as form is concerned. While there seems to be no stopping Uruguay, Japan are a side that lack experience at the top level and it showed in the heavy defeat to Chile.
The lack of experience could be a telling factor once again for the Blue Samurai, although the return of Shinji Okazaki could add to their potency in front of goal. Having said that, with Diego Godin and Jose Maria Gimenez forming an almost impregnable partnership, one can expect La Celeste to keep yet another clean sheet.
On the other end, Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez mean business and the duo could be on target once again on Friday. The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-0 win for Uruguay, which should see them book a place in the 2019 Copa America quarter-finals.
Uruguay vs Japan Head-to-head (h2h)
Uruguay won three of the last four meetings.
Japan conceded two or more goals in all of their h2h encounters.
The last five ties saw the Japanese letting in 14 goals in total.
This is the first competitive tie between these squads.
Uruguay vs Japan Key Statistics
Uruguay have covered the -2 handicap in their last 4 matches (all competitions).
Uruguay’s Luis Suarez has scored in his last 2 matches (all competitions).
Uruguay have kept clean sheets in their last 4 matches (all competitions).
Japan lost their opening match 4-0 to Chile (Copa America).
Japan have conceded 3+ goals in 3 of 5 matches against Uruguay (international friendlies).