Victory alone will be enough for the Kashima Antlers regulars in this Kashima Soccer Stadium duel with Albirex Niigata, having a healthy lead on the away side in the J-League table.
- Kashima Antlers have played more matches over 2,5 goals home than away.
- Albirex Niigata have the most conceded goals in the first half (20) in J-League
This has all the signs of an intriguing fixture with lots of fun and bustle as both sides are well rested since they last ran out on the pitch. Let's start!
Kashima Antlers form and stats
5-3-3 (win-draw-lost) are the J-League numbers at home for Kashima Antlers so far this season. Hopes of three in a row are alive for Kashima after consecutive victories at their own ground.
The Kashima Antlers club members enjoyed the previous game, watching their team host Sagan Tosu and win 2-1. Manager Iwamasa felt very clever after Chinen scored the winning goal against Sagan Tosu, having brought on that player as a substitute in the 58th minute. Higuchi (midfield) was the top team player in that game with a rating of 7.21/10. Higuchi scored one goal and had 23 successful passes (of 28 total).
Prior to that, an away loss at Nagoya Grampus.The hosts are modest favourites in this match, with the bookmakers estimating the chance of a home win at about 50% +- five percent. It's interesting to look at how Kashima Antlers have performed under similar circumstances, so here are some numbers: When modest favourites like this (we found 16 games) they have won 8 times, drawn 6 and lost 2.
The Kashima fans would probably like to see some more goals scored at their own stadium in the league, the tally being 16 in 11 matches.
Albirex Niigata form and stats
The visitors are W3-D4-L5 on the road this term. That's in the J-League.
Albirex Niigata play their second away game in a row, but can be confident going into this one after the 1-0 victory visiting Avispa Fukuoka (placed 8th). Kojima was the team player of the game with the player rating of 8.01. The agile goalkeeper Kojima topped it up with a clean sheet.
Ahead of that game was the 2-2 draw at home against Shonan Bellmare.Albirex Niigata are the outsiders in this one, but not by much. Their performance in similar games (being the away team and moderate outsiders) is 2 wins, 2 draws and 3 defeats. From a total of 7 matches.
A quick return to home after this game, as Albirex are hosting Kawasaki Frontale in the Emperor Cup only four days away.
The visitors have scored 10 goals from 12 away games in the league, an average of less than one per game. As opposed to that, Albirex Niigata have seen the ball go into their own net 13 times on the road. There's been improvement defensively lately, as only 1 of these goals has been conceded in their last three away matches.
Head 2 Head
Albirex Niigata - Kashima Antlers 0-2 was the outcome when these two contenders previously played each other, earlier this season. Kashima Antlers-Albirex Niigata H2H statistics last ten meetings regardless of arena: Kashima Antlers eight wins, Albirex Niigata one win, one draw. four of these ten matches had three or more goals (over 2,5).
Top Goalscorers
  Y. Suzuki 10 goals | K. Chinen 5 goals |   S. Ota 4 goals |
Kashima Antlers missing players
Albirex Niigata missing players
| Kashima Antlers | Albirex Niigata | ||||||
| Total | Home | vs | Statistics | Stat | vs | Away | Total |
| 24 | 11 | 3 | Played | P | 4 | 12 | 24 |
| 11 | 5 | 2 | Won | W | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 6 | 3 | 1 | Drew | D | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 7 | 3 | 0 | Lost | L | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 33 | 16 | 4 | Scored | S | 3 | 10 | 25 |
| 22 | 11 | 0 | Conceded | C | 4 | 13 | 32 |
| 88% | 82% | 67% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 75% | 83% | 88% |
| 67% | 73% | 33% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 50% | 50% | 62% |
| 46% | 55% | 33% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 50% | 42% | 50% |
| 21% | 18% | 0% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 0% | 17% | 33% |
| 4% | 9% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 0% | 4% |
| 46% | 45% | 0% | BTTS | BTTS | 50% | 42% | 50% |
| 46% | 55% | 100% | Clean Sheets | C S | 25% | 33% | 29% |
| 21% | 18% | 33% | Failed to Score | F T | 50% | 42% | 33% |
| 4.2 | 4.5 | 6.3 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 3.8 | 3.8 | 4.7 |
| 5 | 5.1 | 6 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 5.5 | 4.8 | 4.7 |
| 1.5 | 1 | 1 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.2 | 1.9 | 1.4 |
| 4 | 2 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 11.2 | 10.9 | 13.3 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 9.5 | 10.7 | 13 |
| 3.7 | 3.6 | 3.3 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 2.2 | 3.3 | 4.5 |
| 38% | 40% | 40% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 33% | 25% | 23% |
| 10.5 | 11.7 | 13 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 14.8 | 11.2 | 11.5 |
| 2.5 | 2.9 | 1.7 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 5.5 | 4.5 | 4 |
- Albirex Niigata have the most conceded goals in the first half (20) in J-League
- Albirex Niigata have won significantly less corners away then at home.
- Kashima Antlers have played more matches over 2,5 goals home than away.
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 24 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 48 | 26 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 29 | 11 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 15 | 22 | 50 |
| 2 | Vissel Kobe | 24 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 44 | 20 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 23 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 9 | 24 | 48 |
| 3 | Nagoya Grampus | 24 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 32 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 9 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 45 |
| 4 | Urawa Reds | 24 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 29 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 41 |
| 5 | Kashima Antlers | 24 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 33 | 22 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 11 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 11 | 11 | 39 |
| 6 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 24 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 29 | 25 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 4 | 37 |
| 7 | Cerezo Osaka | 23 | 11 | 3 | 9 | 31 | 25 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 13 | 6 | 36 |
| 8 | Avispa Fukuoka | 24 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 24 | 27 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 14 | -3 | 35 |
| 9 | Kawasaki Frontale | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 32 | 31 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 18 | 20 | 1 | 32 |
| 10 | Tokyo | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 30 | 33 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 20 | -3 | 32 |
| 11 | Gamba Osaka | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 34 | 41 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 14 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 27 | -7 | 32 |
| 12 | Sagan Tosu | 24 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 31 | 30 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 17 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 13 | 1 | 30 |
| 13 | Consadole Sapporo | 24 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 42 | 47 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 18 | 20 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 24 | 27 | -5 | 28 |
| 14 | Albirex Niigata | 24 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 25 | 32 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 19 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 13 | -7 | 28 |
| 15 | Kyoto Sanga | 24 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 27 | 34 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 16 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 14 | 18 | -7 | 26 |
| 16 | Kashiwa Reysol | 24 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 35 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 19 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 16 | -14 | 19 |
| 17 | Yokohama | 23 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 17 | 43 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 19 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 | -26 | 18 |
| 18 | Shonan Bellmare | 24 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 30 | 48 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 23 | 13 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 25 | -18 | 17 |
