Kawasaki Frontale

vs

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Preview

Kawasaki Frontale

• Kawasaki Frontale are 2 - 1 down to Sanfrecce Hiroshima in their playoff tie for the second leg on Saturday and will need to up the tempo to keep their season alive.
• Shigetoshi Hasebe’s men have won two, drawn one and lost two of their last five games in all competitions, with one of those defeats coming in the first leg of this playoff matchup.
• They have been less convincing on the road than at home, suggesting home advantage could be cancelled out by the necessity to push forward.
• Yasuto Wakisaka has a high assist count this season, Ryota Oshima sets the tempo when fit and Erison is the top goalscorer.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

• Sanfrecce Hiroshima have built a structured 3-4-2-1 around a possession-based foundation and press in numbers when out of possession.
• The loss of Tsukasa Shiotani through injury has forced Bartosch Gaul to shuffle his defence recently.
• Tolgay Arslan and Hayao Kawabe are high-energy midfielders who control the pace with creativity.
• Ryo Germain leads the line as Sanfrecce’s top goalscorer.

Head-to-Head

• Kawasaki and Sanfrecce have split recent meetings in the J1 League.
• Sanfrecce won the first leg of this year’s playoff tie and currently lead 2 - 1 on aggregate.

Key Players

• Kawasaki Frontale:
  • Yasuto Wakisaka has a high assist count this season.
  • Ryota Oshima sets the tempo when fit.
  • Erison is Kawasaki’s top goalscorer.
• Sanfrecce Hiroshima:
  • Tolgay Arslan and Hayao Kawabe control the midfield with energy and creativity.
  • Ryo Germain is Sanfrecce’s top goalscorer.
  • Tsukasa Shiotani is absent through injury.

Betting Insights

• Sanfrecce’s aggregate lead and better recent run make them slight favourites to progress.
• The market prices Both Teams to Score - Yes at 1.56.
• Kawasaki to score is likely given they will have to chase the game.

Prediction

• Sanfrecce Hiroshima are the pick to progress from this tie.
• Expected exact-score options: 1-1 or 2-1 in Sanfrecce’s favour.