This is a really attractive price for an angle I came back to throughout the 25/26 Premier League season. It shortened in price as the season went on, starting at around 2.0 but dropping down to 1.4 or even as low as we’re seeing here, with some bookmakers having van Hecke as short as 1.25 to win a foul here.

Van Hecke is a true ball-playing centre back; he’s brilliant at picking out passes between the lines and advancing play, which is why a lot of the big clubs are sniffing around him this summer - Tottenham recently went in with a 70-million-pound bid that was turned down, showing the level of interest in the Brighton man.

This is relevant because these traits give Van Hecke a lot of time on the ball. He averaged 85.2 touches per 90 for Brighton during the Premier League season, winning 43 fouls across just 36 starts (1.21 per 90). His touches increased quite dramatically across his two games for the Netherlands during qualifying (123.8 per 90), and I expect him to be a target for an effective Japanese frontline.

Japan averaged 11.27 fouls per game during qualifying and will try to press the Netherlands high here. Ayase Ueda is set to lead the line for Japan, who averaged 1.82 fouls committed per 90 during qualifying - a massive jump from the 0.85 fouls per 90 he committed for Feyenoord during the 25/26 campaign.

There’s really good value here; we’re getting nearly 2.0 for an angle that’s as low as 1.25 elsewhere and has really strong underlying numbers.