Mito HollyHock (home)
- Kashiwa Reysol can take the points when they travel to Mito on Sunday in a mid-table clash between two teams that are in the middle of the Meiji Yasuda J1 100 Year Vision League table.
- Reysol are in seventh place on 11 points from nine games, while Mito are immediately below them on 10 points from the same number of matches.
- Mito have shown resilience with a string of tight games, recording several draws and narrow results in their last five matches, often proving hard to beat at home.
Kashiwa Reysol (away)
- Kashiwa boss Ricardo Rodríguez, the Spanish coach who has made a good start at the club, has installed a patient, possession-based style of play upon the squad, with the 3-4-2-1 formation giving them the ability to overload certain areas of the pitch and take control of the game.
- But the best Reysol teams over the years have always been based around a deep-lying playmaker or prolific striker, and although this team isn’t blessed with a star turn in either position, they are more of a team than the sum of their individual talents.
- Veteran goalkeeper Ryosuke Kojima holds the team together and has the experience to keep the back line organised when they get out of shape.
- In Chihiro Kato, they have a midfield engine who has given them a lot of fuel during the early stages of the campaign and created some lovely assists.
- Reysol have played a couple of tough games recently and their results have suffered with one win, one draw and three losses in their last five.
Head-to-Head
Kashiwa Reysol have the edge in head-to-head meetings, having won three of the last five league meetings between the clubs in all competitions.
Key Players
- Ryosuke Kojima is a veteran goalkeeper who holds the team together and has the experience to keep the back line organised when they get out of shape.
- Chihiro Kato is a midfield engine who has given them a lot of fuel during the early stages of the campaign and created some lovely assists.
- His creativity is backed up by some talented and tenacious attackers who like to get the ball and run with it on the counter-attack or from set pieces.
Betting Insights
- Kashiwa Reysol are favourites at 1.8, with Mito HollyHock 4.33 and the draw 3.5.
- The 'Under 2.5 goals' option is enticing at 1.77 given neither side have been involved in many goal-fests so far.
Prediction
- So the clash between their patient, possession-based attacking football and Mito’s compact, disciplined, defensive style should be an interesting chess match on Sunday.
- A home win looks good in the odds, but we are inclined to take Kashiwa here at 1.8 because of their squad depth and higher-profile results this term.
- We expect a close match-up at K’s denki Stadium.
- We will take that as the main bet with a smaller wager on Reysol to edge it if the visitors’ technical quality can overpower their gritty hosts.
