Sagan Tosu will put their seven-match unbeaten run in the J1 League on the line when they welcome Urawa Red Diamonds to the Ekimae Real Estate Stadium on Saturday.
The hosts put on a dominant display in their last match to beat Shonan Bellmare 6-0, while the visitors extended their own unbeaten league run to eight matches with a 4-1 win over the same opponent in a midweek encounter.
Match preview
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After being smashed 6-1 in the J-League Cup by Yokohama F Marinos, the home side bounced back in fine style against Shonan Bellmare, with Yuji Ono scoring a hat-trick, becoming only the third player to accomplish that feat this season.
The midfielder stuck away his third of the afternoon by converting from the penalty spot in the 49th minute, while Yuki Horigome, Yuta Fujihara and Ryonosuke Kabayama all got onto the scoresheet in the second half as well.
While they only managed nine wins across the entirety of last season, that victory over Shonan Bellmare was Sagan Tosu's seventh this term and saw them overtake Consadole Sapporo into eighth place with 26 points after 18 matches, now just nine points behind Nagoya Grampus in third.
Kenta Kawai's side have recorded three wins, three draws and three losses in their nine matches at home and will be looking to prolong a three-match unbeaten run at the Ekimae Real Estate Stadium, which includes a win and back-to-back draws coming into this one.
The hosts will know that their opponents are in a good bit of form themselves but will fancy their chances in this one, having beaten the visitors 2-0 in the reverse fixture less than two months ago.
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Meanwhile, Urawa Red Diamonds will be out for revenge in this match as that 2-0 loss mentioned above at the start of May was the last one they conceded since going on their current run of eight matches without defeat.
During their unbeaten run, the visitors have recorded four wins and four draws, with their win in midweek taking them back to fourth place with 33 points, just six points behind Vissel Kobe in the second and final automatic qualification spot for next season's AFC Champions League.
While Maciej Skorza's side did slot four goals past Shonan Bellmare in their last match, he would have been somewhat annoyed that they could not secure a clean sheet against the side at the foot of the table, as that goal saw them drop to second place in terms of goals conceded this season.
After losing their first two matches on the road this season, Urawa have turned their form around noticeably and are now unbeaten in their last seven away matches with three wins and four draws, scoring seven and conceding just one in that time.
Shusaku Nishikawa is currently third in the golden glove standings with seven clean sheets, including six shutouts in his last seven away matches, and he has only let in 14 goals in 18 matches this term.
Urawa Red Diamonds have lost their last two visits to this venue and failed to score a single goal in those matches; however, with much better defensive stats and a solid record behind them, they look in good shape to change that record in this one.
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Kawai has one injury absentee to contend with coming into this match, as Fuchi Honda has been ruled out for the foreseeable future with a serious knee issue.
Ono took his tally to seven goals for the season last week, and he will almost certainly start up top for the hosts, while Fujihara will be hoping that his goal off the bench in the last match will be enough to earn him a start in this one.
After coming off the bench to score against Kawasaki Frontale, Skorza's decision to add Takahiro Sekine to the starting 11 in midweek paid off as the midfielder netted a brace, putting himself firmly in contention for another start in this match.
Shinzo Koroki was returned to the starting lineup in midweek and opened the scoring, which could be enough to see him keep his spot at the top of the pitch.
Skorza may also be tempted to hand a start to Jose Kante, who impressed yet again in their last match, scoring the fourth goal of the match and his second in his last four appearances.
Sagan Tosu possible starting lineup:
Park; Harada, Hwang, Yamazaki, Kikuchi; Kawahara, Tezuka, Iwasaki, Moriya, Naganuma; Ono
Urawa Red Diamonds possible starting lineup:
Nishikawa; Sakai, Scholz, Hoibraten, Ogiwara; Ito, Iwao, Sekine, Yasui, Okubo; Koroki
We say: Sagan Tosu 1-1 Urawa Red Diamonds
While the scorelines that both these sides recorded in their match look impressive on the surface, we can arguably draw a line across those results on the basis that they were playing a team that have been bleeding goals this season.
This looks like a much more even contest, and with both sides protecting a solid record in recent weeks, we feel that chances will be hard to come by and that they will eventually cancel each other out in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Devesh Jaganath
