How to watch the Netherlands v Japan, team news, predicted line-ups and more
· Yahoo Sports
The Netherlands take on Japan in one of the more eye-catching clashes of the opening round of group stage fixtures at the World Cup.
Visit newsbetsport.bond for more information.
Ronald Koeman’s side are hoping to win a first ever World Cup for the nation but face a Japan side who have caused plenty of teams problems in recent years.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the game…
Kick-off time in the UK
9pm, Sunday March 14
How to watch in the UK
Live on ITV 1
Streaming on ITVX
Team news
Koeman says veteran forward Memphis Depay and goalkeeper Bart Verburggen are both set to be available after injury concerns.
Japan are without captain Wataru Endo, who has pulled out of the competition through injury and also retired from international duty. Kaoru Mitoma is also out of the competition with a hamstring injury.
Predicted line-ups
Netherlands (4-3-3): Verbruggen; Dumfries, van Hecke, van Dijk, van de Ven; de Jong, Gravenberch, Reijnders; Summerville, Brobbey, Gakpo
Japan (3-4-3): Suzuki; Watanabe, Itakura, Ito; Doan, Tanaka, Kamada, Nakamura; Kubo, Ueda, Ito
Recent form
The Netherlands beat Uzbekistan 2-0 in their final warm-up game but that followed a shock defeat to Algeria.
Japan, meanwhile, beat Iceland 1-0 ahead of the tournament, and also beat England at Wembley back in March.
What’s been said?
Dutch boss Koeman: “We have a good impression of the Japanese team, we carefully analyse all our opponents,” he said. Their game is offensive. I don’t want to discuss individual players, but we know they are physically strong.
“We also know where our opportunities will lie. We are not afraid of our opponent, but we respect them.”
Japan boss Hajime Moriyasu: “It’s not just about expressing the style of play we like, but also doing something that the other team do not like.”