It was mission accomplished for both of these teams in the first match, with Holland managing a relatively comfortable victory against Denmark on Monday. While everyone is talking about the return of Arjen Robben to the starting line-up, it was Eljero Elia who caught the eye as a second half substitute and manager Bert Van Marwijk might turn to the Hamburg player and decide to give the star talent a little more recovery time.

We can be fairly confident that the Netherlands will keep another clean sheet, considering they are adopting a conservative approach to these group matches and stationing Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel in front of the defence. In attack, Robin Van Persie showed some neat touches and the Japanese will look to crowd him out at every opportunity.

Indeed, while Japan beat Cameroon, they would gladly settle for a draw in this game and it might follow a similar pattern to Holland’s first match. There’s infinitely more value in backing the match to be drawn at half-time and the Netherlands to kick on with a victory in the second half.

PREDICTION: DRAW HT NETHERLANDS FT @ 4.33 with LADBROKES