Team Canada Needs a Good Performance Against Japan This Week

After an incredibly underwhelming display against Bahrain, Canada enters its final game on Thursday before competitive action begins at the World Cup next week. 

In fact, there is less than a week before the Maple Leafs meet with Belgium in Group F, so here’s one last look at a betting preview for Thursday's game between Canada and Japan at the Al-Maktoum Stadium in Dubai.

Our 3 selections in a parlay is 24.2 with FanDuel.

Jonathan David to Score

Canada’s main man, Jonathan David, did not play in the game against Bahrain, which is one of the main reasons it failed to win the game. He is now with the squad for this one and ready to go and we expect David to get amongst the goals once again for his country. 

The striker has scored nine times for Lille already this season, meaning only the legendary figures of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe have scored more than him in France so far, with Terem Moffi of Lorient getting one more with 10 too.

David is also looking to knock Cyle Larin off of top spot as Canada's all-time top goalscorer and he needs just three goals to match his 25. Against Japan, it could be the perfect time for David to get goal 23 for Canada, which would mean he has then scored five times in 11 games for it in 2022. 

Jonathan David is 3.00 to score anytime and 7.00 to score the game's first goal against Japan with FanDuel.

Takumi Minamino to Score

After leaving Liverpool having barely made an impact, Takumi Minamino has been in good form with Monaco this season and heads to the World Cup as Japan’s main man.

The Monaco star has 17 goals in 43 caps already for Japan, making him the highest scorer in the Japan squad heading to the World Cup. In fact, no other midfielder or forward player has managed to achieve double figures for Japan for those in the World Cup squad, and it seems there is already a dependency on Minamino at this tournament.

The most successful year for Minamino with Japan was 2019 as he scored seven times, but with five goals in his past 17 caps and a total of eight throughout Japan's World Cup qualification, we’re expecting him to punish Canada this time around.

Takumi Minamino is 3.10 to score anytime and 7.00 to score the game's first goal with FanDuel.

Japan to Win

Sadly for Canada, we do not see them winning this one, which will mean a worrying winless run before the World Cup begins for it next Wednesday. This is mainly because it has won just two games since securing World Cup qualification against Jamaica back in March, beating Curacao 4-0 and Qatar 2-0, but losing to Honduras, Uruguay and Panama, alongside the recent 2-2 tie with Bahrain. 

The Canadians can be excused slightly for its tie with Bahrain, mainly because most of its key players were not playing. David, Cyle Larin and Alphonso Davies were not available to play, which clearly impacted the team greatly.

What’s more, Japan has been in sensational form for most of 2022, losing only two of its 13 games so far and qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar with ease. Japan has already beaten the United States in recent months, and along with ties against Ecuador and China and a 6-0 win over Hong Kong, it is now unbeaten since June.

Japan to beat Canada is 2.00 with FanDuel.