Venue: Durban, South Africa
On the 19th of June in Durban at 13:30 local time Group E gets back into action with the match between group favourites the Netherlands and Japan.
With the Netherlands among the favourites to win the World Cup, and Japan, along with all of the other Asian teams, on the outside, there is not much money to be made backing a Dutch straight win here. Bodog are offering just 2/5 on this outcome, and BetFred a mere 1/3.
For Japan to cause an upset, which, if you saw them play against England in the friendlies, is always a possibility, you can get 9/1 from Victor Chandler, the best price for a Japanese win. A draw is offered at 7/2, again, from Victor Chandler.
Victor Chandler and William Hill both have bets available already for the first goal scorer in this game. Predictably, the field is led by Dutch players, with Robin van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar joint favourites at 18/5 and Arjen Robben, who may not even play in the group stage due to injury, third at 11/2, followed by Wesley Sneijder and Dirk Kuyt both at 13/2. The first Japanese players appear at the 11/1 mark, where you can take Morimoto or Okubo, at the same price as van Bronckhorst on the Dutch side.
If you want to predict the correct score, the bookmakers are favouring a 1-0 or 2-0 win to the Dutch, most offering the same odds for both scorelines. Bodog will give you 5/1 on these picks. With all the confidence in this year’s Dutch side, perhaps you fancy a bigger win margin? Well, prices for 4-0 vary anywhere from 16/1 to 22/1, but the best price is from Ladbrokes, who also offer the best price for 5-0 at 80/1.
Prediction
Holland should have no trouble here, and this could be a high scoring game for the Dutch. To stay on the conservative side I am going for a 3-0 win for Holland, but it is possible they could put even more past the Japanese defence with some of the goalscorers they can field. 3-0 will get you 8/1 with Bodog right now.
