3 more games in a week to conclude the Nabisco Cup group stages.
FC Tokyo v Avispa Fukuoka
GK Yoichi Doi may play after coming back from NT.
Tokyo’s problems again I have to say is whether they really want to get results or try to score impossible wonderful goals.
Avispa’s problems is just that they are not good enough for J1. They do have good players like Santos but overall they are still weak.
Both have no chances to get to the quarters as the group is dominated by Urawa and Marinos. Both with 0 goals and only competing on who gets the bottom place. No point betting on this one.
Yokohama Marinos v Urawa Reds
DF Nakazawa and FW Kubo in NT.
Nakazawa will be missed, but Kubo shouldn’t as he isn’t in good form.
MF Soma suspended. DF Santos, DF Tsuboi, MF Ono and MF Hasebe in NT.
Urawa is missing a lot of players, should change their game style a lot.
If Marinos wants their revenge, this is the game. Urawa beat them 1-3 in the same league fixture and now is missing much more important players than Marinos. Very suspicious handicap, my line is actually the opposite, Marinos(-1/4), but so far I haven’t done well opposing Urawa in cup games, so I skip it.
It’s up to the reserve players to get the goals and I don’t trust them much, don’t think there’s many goals.
Kashima Antlers v Kyoto
Purple Sanga
MF Ogasawara and MF Motoyama in NT.
Kashima got trashed by Urawa, although they never played badly, only Shinji Ono’s super finishings destroyed the Antlers.
Kyoto’s defence is still bad, they tried to fix it but well it still broke, not their type style.
Kyoto has no chance with 0 points, while Kashima needs the points if they want to go through. Although Kashima missing Ogasawara and Motoyama, but Kyoto is still a class below Kashima. Should be a comfortable win for Kashima.
Both teams can score goals, but I am only afraid of a 2-1 game, they will play again in midweek so no point pushing too much.
Oita Trinita v Kawasaki Frontale
Oita has many many injuries for this game and important ones. They will play change have a lot of changes and will play defensively.
Frontale ended the top of the Jleague before the break, a great achievement.
Both teams on 6 points and still has the chance to get the top spot. However Oita’s injuries is just too much, and playing defensive seldom work against Frontale.
Will go Over if Frontale trashes Oita, but Oita will play defensive so there is a chance for it to go under.
Kawasaki Frontale(-1/2) 5/10
Shimizu S-Pulse v JEF Ichihara
FW Cho Jae Jin in NT. DF Aoyama injured. It seems to me that Shimizu doesn’t really care too much about the Nabisco Cup, they don’t really have much chances to progress, with only 2 points after 3 games.
MF Yuki Abe is in NT but may play here as he did not play against Scotland. A win here will almost surely put JEF through to the quaterfinals.
I am doubting Shimizu’s motivation for the cup here. JEF won this same fixture 2-1 earlier from a late Shimizu mistake. In any case Shimizu will play a rookie in place of Cho Jae Jin which isn’t good as it is already tough to break the JEF defence. JEF will not lose here but a draw is possible. No value in odds anyway.Always a potential for the Over between Shimizu and JEF, however odds are bad.
Sanfreece Hiroshima v Albirex Niigata
DF Omura injured. DF Dininho is struggling with injury but it seems that he is seldom played in the first team recently as Sanfreece plays with a new formation.
FW Edmilson may make a comeback for Niigata. It will be a good boost for Niigata if Edmilson plays, but he is still not at 100% yet.
Both met in Niigata and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Tough game, Sanfreece don’t have any chances to go through unless they win the remaining 3 games, while Niigata still has a chance to get the 3 best placed 2nd team.
Sanfreece plays defensive these days, and it depends if Edmilson can start scoring goals after being out for so long.
Omiya Ardija v Ventforet Kofu
DF Tomita suspended.
Omiya beat Grampus in midweek to end their bad run of results, but I do not think they are good, Kobayashi has been saving them time and again.
Again I cannot know the expected lineup for cup games as Kofu prefers to field players that don’t get many chances to play.
Should be a tough game, Omiya still has chances to go through if they can win their remaining games. It is still possible as this group is the most open one. Kofu will be hard but Kobayashi might get the win for Omiya.
Actually this can go Over or Under, the line is 3 which is high for both teams normally. But with qualification on the line, it might just be many goals.
Nagoya Grampus v Cerezo Osaka
FW Tamada in NT.
Grampus is playing ok, not too great but not too bad and always tough to beat.
Cerezo still has a chance to go through as this is an open group. Their performance has improved lately and should do well.
This will be a hard game for both sides. A draw is possible but if any team can win, it should be Cerezo, they are doing well and getting into the quarters is a good way to erase their horrible start.
I think there wouldn’t be many goals, especially with Tamada not available, however it depends if Cerezo can score, but from recent performance, Cerezo perhaps wouldn’t manage more than one.
Consadole Sapporo v Vissel Kobe
Sapporo is in a slump, winless in 5 games and they weren’t against top teams.
Kobe also in a slump, failing to beat Shonan and Mito, but it may also be their erratic form.
Both teams playing badly, but Sapporo at home has the advantage and should be able to turn their bad form around here. Sapporo won 2-1 at Kobe and will be looking to get the same result. However going against Kobe isn’t a good thing.A potential 2-1 game, both teams can score and their defence isn’t at their best recently.
Montedio Yamagata v Thespa Kusatsu
Yamagata had the weekend off, it seems Yamagata’s win over Kashiwa a few weeks ago was too much, other teams took notice and played carefully and Yamagata couldn’t do much.
Thespa’s performance has been great, all thanks to their solid defending lately, however they are still one of the bottom teams, perhaps the strongest bottom team.
This looks like a draw to me, both teams will play very cautiously. Thespa won 3-1 at home earlier but I don’t think they can repeat that in Yamagata. Both teams are as capable of getting the win.
This game can go anywhere, a boring 1-0 or a 4-3 game as if both defences fails, a lot of goals can be expected. But I expect a low scoring one this time.
Tokyo Verdy v Mito Hollyhock
MF Ono suspended.
Verdy were beaten by Flugels in midweek as they weren’t fit. They should perform better here.
DF Owada suspended.
Mito shocked many by beating Sapporo 3-1 last week, but that was at home. I do not think they are capable of such results in away games.
Verdy should be able to win, but Mito may not be easy. However Verdy is still the better team, even if they are not at 100%, Mito can surprise at times and Verdy can screw up also.
Both defences are bad, but I am not sure if Mito can break the Verdy defence more than once and Basilio isn’t scoring for Verdy.
Yokohama Flugels v Vegalta Sendai
Flugels playing really well, got the win against Verdy in midweek, but it was mainly cos Verdy’s tired.
Sendai isn’t bad, but always lack that something against the lesser teams.
The reverse fixture ended 0-0 and it might be the same here again. Both teams has tough defences and this one will be a tough match. It could go either way. But a draw is still more possible. Both has really tough defence, I don’t expect many goals.
Shonan Bellmare v Tokushima Vortis
Shonan is playing well, managed to get the draw against Sendai is a good result.
Vortis is a hard team to break but still they tend to play badly in away games.
Shonan should be able to win, Vortis is tough but with Shonan’s current performance, they should be able to get the win. However the odds isn’t worth it.
Vortis will play their usual defensive game, but I cant trust them in away games.
Sagan Tosu v Kashiwa Reysol
Tosu has been doing well, picking up points, however they were against middle to bottom teams, only their draw at Kobe was better but Kobe was erratic.
Kashiwa is top of the table and doing ok, sometimes they don’t play great but they get the results.
Kashiwa will get the win here, Tosu will put up a fight at home, but in the end Kashiwa is still too strong for them. However the odds aren’t really great, not worth it for me.
Tosu might score and Kashiwa should win, so probably a 1-2 game, but I wont risk it.
Japanese - 14 May
