Preview: Japan vs Senegal

Two teams who won against the odds in the opening round of games to blow Group H wide open and leave the more-fancied duo of Poland and Colombia with plenty to do to extend their stay in Russia beyond the group stage.

Both these teams were full value for their wins, but Senegal produced arguably the most impressive performance of anyone in Matchday 1 and look overpriced at 27/20 here.

Without wishing to take anything away from a hugely impressive Japan performance, they were offered a huge helping hand by a Carlos Sanchez brainfade which handed Japan a penalty and a one-man advantage for almost the entire 90 minutes.

Senegal are unlikely to be so generous and this looks a match where there is no great need to go hunting for something when the best bet is right there in front of us.

Senegal-Senegal is a really nice 11/4 shot in the HT/FT market if you are looking bigger, while they’re also very backable at 7/2 to cover a one-goal handicap.

One remarkable stat about this Senegal side is that 11 of their 29 competitive games since the last World Cup have ended in 2-0 victories. They were minutes away from that being 12 out of 29 against Poland, and again the 9/1 for a 2-0 win here looks overpriced. They won 2-0 three times in eight qualifiers.

The 7/1 quotes for Senegal to win both halves – something they’ve done in eight of those 29 competitive games – is also a tempter. But really there’s no need to over-complicate this. Senegal look a really solid bet here at the price.

·         Senegal to win at 27/20

·         Senegal to win 2-0 at 9/1