The Yodoko Sakura Stadium will play host to Cerezo Osaka and Machida Zelvia on Wednesday as they go head-to-head in J1 League action.
Both teams head into this one off the back of respective defeats in their last outings and now go in search of an immediate return to winning ways.
Match preview
![Cerezo Osaka head coach Akio Kogiku during the 2024 J.League YBC Levain Cup Playoff round 2st leg match between FC Machida Zelvia 2-2 Cerezo Osaka on June 9, 2024 [IMAGO]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/26/akio-kogiku.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Cerezo Osaka head coach Akio Kogiku during the 2024 J.League YBC Levain Cup Playoff round 2st leg match between FC Machida Zelvia 2-2 Cerezo Osaka on June 9, 2024 [IMAGO]")
© Reuters
Cerezo Osaka came away empty-handed last time out courtesy of a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of Albirex Niigata when the teams squared off against each other on July 20.
Goals from Eitaro Matsuda and Yuji Ono either side of the half-time whistle left Akio Kogiku's men with a mountain to climb after which Lucas Fernandes halved the deficit in stoppage time.
The Cherry Blossoms were guilty of another sloppy start in their friendly matchup against Bundesliga outfit Borussia Dortmund, where they went into the interval down by three, before pulling two goals back in the second period.
Since going seven games unbeaten across all competitions between early June and early July, Cerezo Osaka have endured a drastic change in fortune, losing three of the subsequent four matches.
Consequently, Wednesday's hosts have now dropped down to sixth in the J1 League table, seven points adrift in the race to secure continental football of any sort for the first time in three years.
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Machida's title challenge hit a mini bump in the road following their 2-1 defeat against Yokohama Marinos at the Machida GION Stadium three Saturdays ago.
First-half goals from Anderson Lopes and Jun Amano left Go Kuroda's men with too much work to do at the interval, rendering Mitchell Duke's strike five minutes from time inconsequential.
That snapped a run of three straight wins for Zelvia which saw them open up a healthy five-point advantage over nearest challengers Gamba Osaka with just over a third of the season left to play.
While their lead at the summit remains intact leading up to Wednesday's affair, the visitors will be keen to avoid further slip-ups and kick off August on a winning note in the first of five league outings this month.
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Team News
![Cerezo Osaka team group on May 11, 2024 [IMAGO]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/26/Cerezo.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Cerezo Osaka team group on May 11, 2024 [IMAGO]")
© Reuters
Ryohei Shirasaki could be handed his official debut for Machida here, having only just joined on a loan deal from Shimizu S-Pulse.
Shota Fujio was recently knocked out of the Olympic Games with Japan and is not expected to be back in time to feature for the home side.
Midfielder Yuichi Hirano is suspended for Cerezo Osaka after receiving his marching orders in the defeat to Albirex Niigata last time out.
Despite failing to score in consecutive league matches for the visitors, Leo Ceara still leads the race for the Golden Boot and will be relied upon to deliver the goods.
One of Masaya Shibayama or Reiya Sakata could be in line for a start off the back of their goalscoring heroics off the bench against Dortmund.
Cerezo Osaka possible starting lineup:
Kim; Okuda, Toriumi, Funaki, Noborizato; Tanaka, Uejo, Okuno; Fernandes, Ceara, Capixaba
Machida Zelvia possible starting lineup:
Tani; Mochizuki, Dresevic, Shoji, Hayashi; Na, Sento, Shimoda, Fujimoto; Erik, Duke
We say: Cerezo Osaka 1-2 Machida Zelvia
The last three meetings between Cerezo Osaka and Machida have yielded a combined 11 goals, and we expect another entertaining affair here.
That said, we are backing the away side to narrowly edge out their hosts at the sound of the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
