Although Japan are currently on a sensational run of 16 wins from their last 18 matches, it has not been all plain sailing for Hajime Moriyasu and his side.

Their two defeats during that run have come at the Asian Cup, where they were favourites to win, with a 2-1 defeat to Iran knocking them out of the competition.

In World Cup qualifying, however, the Samurai Blue made light work of North Korea, Syria and Myanmar, scoring 24 goals without reply.

Of course, the quality of the opposition has to be taken into account, and it may have been to their detriment that the Asian Cup came on the back of those six wins.

Nevertheless, they should learn a lesson, and complacency should be a thing of the past as they challenge the likes of Australia and Saudi Arabia in this group.

From China's perspective, there will be an acceptance that they are very much underdogs to earn a place at the 2026 World Cup, given the presence of three of Asia's powerhouses.

China also have just three wins from their last 14 matches in all competitions, the most notable of which came in Thailand in a game that ultimately proved decisive in the second round.

However, Branko Ivankovic's side failed to score a single goal at the Asian Cup and have won just one of their last nine matches, against Singapore.

On the bright side, they were only beaten 1-0 in South Korea last time out, underlining their ability to put the hosts to the sword when they are at their best.

Japan possible starting lineup:

Osako; Taniguchi, Ikatura, Machida; Doan, Endo, Tanaka, Nakamura; Kubo, Minamino; Ueda

China possible starting lineup:

Wang.D; Yang, Zhu, Browning, Liu; Wu, Jiang, Wang.S, Xie; Fernandinho, Yuning

Prediction:Japan 3-0 China

Japan VS China stream and TV listing

International：Holasports