Japan may not have been as convincing as we had expected in the opening phase of this tournament, but they know how to turn it on in these big games, and we expect them to be sharper in the attack, knowing it is a must-win game.
Bahrain have held their own throughout this tournament, but their lack of experience in these big matches will make it difficult for them to stay with a side who possess numerous attacking options.
Read more.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Japan win with a probability of 38.43%. A win for Bahrain had a probability of 35.29% and a draw had a probability of 26.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Japan win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.81%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.38%) and 0-2 (6.58%). The likeliest Bahrain win was 1-0 (9.32%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.5%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 3.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Japan would win this match.
-0.72) 
0.87) 
