After a goalless start to Wednesday’s World Cup action, we go again with Germany v Japan in the 13:00 GMT kick-off.
The other two teams in this group, Spain and Costa Rica, clash in the following match.
From a FIFA World Cup Fantasy perspective, most of the interest in the Group E curtain-raiser is in Germany.
But the most-selected player from Die Mannschaft, the 17.9%-owned Leroy Sane, is only among the substitutes today.
Germany confirmed yesterday that the winger had been ruled out of today’s game with a knee problem so it remains to be seen whether he’s genuinely available to bring on or if he’s only there in a cheerleading capacity.
The other two assets with double-digit ownerships, Jamal Musiala and Antonio Rudiger, both start.
The Premier League’s own Kai Havertz and Ilkay Gundogan also start.
As for Japan, both of their representatives from the English top flight – Kaoru Mitoma and Takehiro Tomiyasu – are on the bench.
In Tomiyasu’s case, at least, fitness is the reason for his non-inclusion in the starting XI.
MATCHDAY 1 LINE-UPS
Germany XI: Neuer; Schlotterbeck, Süle, Rüdiger, Raum; Kimmich, Gündogan; Gnabry, Müller, Musiala; Havertz
Japan XI: Gonda; Sakai, Itakura, Yoshida, Nagatomo; Endo, Tanaka; J Ito, Kamada, Kubo; Maeda.
1 year, 6 months agoDam Saudi first now Japan, let's go Asia