Japan put in an impressive performance against the Netherlands in their opening fixture, and the 89th-minute equaliser from Daichi Kamada was fully deserved.

They remained compact in central areas and were able to restrict the Netherlands to only a handful of shooting opportunities, and goalkeeper Zion Suzuki was effective whenever he was called into action. Even without Wataru Endo and Kaoru Mitoma, Japan have a strong and well-organised side who work well together, and it would not be a surprise to see them make it far at this World Cup. 

By contrast, Tunisia were dealt a humbling 5-1 defeat by Sweden last time out, making multiple costly individual errors that led directly to goals. They were all over the place defensively, which Japan will be able to exploit.

Tunisia will have to raise their intensity significantly in this round two fixture against Japan, knowing that a defeat will all but certainly confirm their elimination from the tournament at the bottom of Group F.

They should look to be far more aggressive in their approach, which makes cards a target. Japan only drew seven fouls from the Netherlands last time out, but three of those were worthy of a booking, which shows how they can be a difficult side to contain when they move the ball quickly.

Meanwhile, Tunisia have picked up at least two bookings in four of their last six matches across all competitions.

Despite being listed as a wingback on paper, Keito Nakamura accounted for three of Japan's ten shots against the Dutch, and he opened the scoring for his side at the World Cup.

He was constantly looking to make things happen in the final third, often arriving late in the box to create overloads for his teammates. Even in settled possession, Nakamura would frequently find himself on the edge of the box, looking to cut inside from the left onto his stronger right foot to get his shots away. 

Nakamura scored 14 goals from 29 appearances for Reims in the French second division this season, and he will hope to cause real problems for Tunisia here.

Hannibal Mejbri provided the assist for Tunisia's only goal against Sweden last time out before recording one shot of his own, which was a speculative effort from a free-kick that flew well over the bar.

The 23-year-old is instrumental for Tunisia in the final third and is already one of the more experienced players in the squad despite his age. Even domestically for Burnley, Hannibal averaged 1.39 shots per 90 in the Premier League this season, with 68% of his efforts coming from outside the box.

He isn’t shy about popping shots off from range, which bodes well here with Tunisia desperate to keep their World Cup hopes alive.

Ali Abdi looks like a prime candidate to find his way into the referee's notebook here, having committed three fouls against Sweden last time out that went unpunished by the referee.

The fullback can often be reckless in his challenges, and he was shown three yellow cards and one red card from 22 appearances in Ligue 1 for Nice this season.

Following Takefusa Kubo's injury against the Netherlands last time out, Ritsu Doan is likely to be pushed forward into a more advanced role on the wing, putting him directly up against Abdi.

Doan averaged 1.44 fouls drawn per 90 for Frankfurt this season, making this a matchup to keep an eye on.