National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Cerezo Osaka or Sagan Tosu that keep their silverware dream alive.
There’s little time for restitution or working hard at the training pitch these days, with both teams having played their last game less than four days ago.
Cerezo Osaka form and stats
Last season their Emperor Cup adventure ended in the 4th round.The story so far in the J-League for Cerezo Osaka at their home stadium is 5 wins, 5 draws and 2 defeats. All in all it has been a very rough period for Cerezo Osaka who hasn’t won a league-game in their last eleven attempts. Their previous win was against Urawa Reds, 122 days ago.
Cerezo Osaka lost their last game at Avispa Fukuoka after a 1-2 scoreline. Midfield player Naoyuki Fujita got a match rating of 8.33 in that game, the max score being 10. Fujita served one assist, hit two key passes and had 63 successful passes (of 75 total). The defeat against Avispa Fukuoka was especially painful as the deciding goal against was scored six minutes into stoppage time (by J. Croux).
Preceding that game was the home draw versus Vegalta Sendai that ended 0-0.The bookmakers consider this a fairly even contest. One could say only the home advantage separates the teams. It could be relevant to look at how Cerezo have performed in matches similar to this (as small favourites). Our database has found ten matches with the results: Won four, drawn three and lost three.
The match schedule is unforgiving for Cerezo as they have a new game in only three days, a J-League match thankfully also at home. Yokohama are visiting.
Cerezo has scored 16 league goals at home this season, in 12 matches. 12 goals have been conceded.
Sagan Tosu form and stats
Sagan was sent out of Emperor Cup in the quarter-finals last season.3-5-4 is the win-draw-loss statistic for Sagan Tosu in their J-League matches away.
There might be some fixture complaints from Sagan as they are again playing away from home after losing on the road in their previous match, the J-League match against Urawa Reds (1-2). Keita Yamashita, attacking player, was the top performer on the team in that game, scoring a match rating of 7.62. Yamashita scored one goal and hit one key pass.
Before that, Sagan Tosu secured a home win against Tokyo with the score 1-0.So, this is expected to be a close game, an even contest. Looking at earlier matches with Sagan Tosu playing away and similar expectations, we found eleven relevant matches. Results were two Sagan Tosu wins, four draws and five defeats.
The schedule is very tough for Sagan now as they have to travel again shortly after this match. A J-League game at Kashiwa Reysol is waiting in only three days.
The attacking power of Sagan when travelling is not overwhelming with 9 goals scored from 12 league matches away. It's not easy to score on Sagan as they have only conceded 11 goals from these away games.
Head 2 Head
As for the last ten games between these two teams, there's four Cerezo victories, two draws and four Sagan Tosu wins. Over/under statistics; six of these games ended with three goals or more, four matches with two goals or less.Top Goalscorers
  K. Yamashita 9 goals |  N. Sakai 6 goals |  T. Sakamoto 5 goals |
Cerezo Osaka missing players
Sagan Tosu missing players
| Cerezo Osaka | Sagan Tosu | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 14 | Played | P | 12 | 25 | ||
| 8 | 6 | Won | W | 2 | 9 | ||
| 11 | 6 | Drew | D | 4 | 7 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Lost | L | 6 | 9 | ||
| 35 | 24 | Scored | S | 10 | 29 | ||
| 25 | 15 | Conceded | C | 17 | 31 | ||
| 88% | 93% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 92% | 92% | ||
| 68% | 79% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 75% | 64% | ||
| 40% | 50% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 42% | 44% | ||
| 20% | 29% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 8% | 20% | ||
| 16% | 21% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 8% | 12% | ||
| 52% | 64% | BTTS | BTTS | 67% | 52% | ||
| 36% | 36% | Clean Sheets | C S | 8% | 28% | ||
| 24% | 7% | Failed to Score | F T | 33% | 28% | ||
| 4.8 | 4.5 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 2.8 | 3.8 | ||
| 3.8 | 3.8 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.3 | 4 | ||
| 0.7 | 0.7 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.3 | 1.1 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 2 | 2 | ||
| 12.2 | 11.4 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 7 | 8.1 | ||
| 4.6 | 4.3 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 2.1 | 3.3 | ||
| 29% | 38% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 40% | 35% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Kawasaki Frontale | 24 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 55 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 28 | 5 | 40 | 62 |
| 2 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 24 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 51 | 21 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 14 | 30 | 56 |
| 3 | Kashima Antlers | 24 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 40 | 24 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 25 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 12 | 16 | 41 |
| 4 | Sagan Tosu | 24 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 32 | 17 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 6 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 41 |
| 5 | Vissel Kobe | 23 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 36 | 23 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 41 |
| 6 | Nagoya Grampus | 24 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 24 | 20 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 11 | 4 | 40 |
| 7 | Urawa Reds | 24 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 27 | 26 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 13 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 38 |
| 8 | Consadole Sapporo | 23 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 32 | 31 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 23 | 16 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 1 | 35 |
| 9 | Tokyo | 24 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 33 | 34 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 19 | 18 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 16 | -1 | 35 |
| 10 | Avispa Fukuoka | 24 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 26 | 29 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 16 | -3 | 33 |
| 11 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 23 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 25 | 23 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 16 | 13 | 2 | 31 |
| 12 | Gamba Osaka | 24 | 8 | 5 | 11 | 18 | 23 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 8 | -5 | 29 |
| 13 | Cerezo Osaka | 23 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 30 | 29 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 17 | 1 | 27 |
| 14 | Kashiwa Reysol | 24 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 24 | 33 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 18 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 15 | -9 | 24 |
| 15 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 24 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 24 | 33 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 17 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 16 | -9 | 24 |
| 16 | Tokushima Vortis | 24 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 32 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 19 | -12 | 23 |
| 17 | Shonan Bellmare | 24 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 22 | 29 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 19 | -7 | 21 |
| 18 | Vegalta Sendai | 24 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 18 | 36 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 21 | -18 | 19 |
| 19 | Oita Trinita | 24 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 15 | 39 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 25 | -24 | 16 |
| 20 | Yokohama | 24 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 16 | 51 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 20 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 31 | -35 | 15 |