National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Cerezo Osaka or Sanfrecce Hiroshima that keep their silverware dream alive.
There has not been much time to rest for the guests, as they played a J-League game only four days ago.
Cerezo Osaka form and stats
Last season their Emperor Cup adventure ended in the semi-finals.Cerezo Osaka have collected 22 points from their J-League home games so far after 6-4-4.
In their previous game, the manager Kogiku led his Cerezo to a defeat away at Consadole Sapporo. The manager is hoping to put things right immediately here at Yanmar Stadium Nagai. The defeat against Consadole Sapporo was especially painful as the deciding goal against was scored four minutes into stoppage time (by Aoki). Okuno (midfield) was the top team player in that game with a rating of 7.85/10. Okuno hit two key passes.
Preceding that match was a J-League defeat to Sanfrecce Hiroshima (0-3).The match schedule is unforgiving for Cerezo Osaka as they have a new game in only three days, a J-League match thankfully also at home. Sagan Tosu are visiting.
Cerezo Osaka are certainly not overdoing their scoring at home in league matches, having created 20 goals in 14 games. Cerezo have conceded 17 in these home matches.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima form and stats
They also participated in Emperor Cup last season. This ended in the 2nd round.5 wins, 5 draws and 3 losses. That’s the product of Sanfrecce Hiroshima playing as the away team in the J-League this season.
The Sanfrecce Hiroshima goalkeeper Keisuke Osako is collecting clean sheets like a laundry worker. It's been 234 league minutes without conceding a goal, and counting.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima won their last game, 2-0 versus Shimizu S-Pulse played at home. A heroic performance from Sanfrecce in their game against Shimizu S-Pulse last time out. Things got complicated when Shiotani was sent off in the 65th minute with the match level. Despite the red card the team were able to pull off a 2-0 victory! Araki was the top performer of the team in that game with a match score of 7.82. The defender Araki won 5 of 6 duels.
Before that one, a nice away victory 3-0 at Cerezo Osaka.There might be some complaints about the fixture list from the Sanfrecce Hiroshima manager Skibbe as the team has another away game coming up in only three days, this time against Kawasaki Frontale.
Sanfrecce are scoring more than one goal per away game on average, having accumulated 19 away goals from 13 games (in the league). 16 goals have been conceded by Sanfrecce Hiroshima in these games.
Head 2 Head
Cerezo-Sanfrecce Hiroshima H2H statistics last ten meetings regardless of arena: Cerezo Osaka three wins, Sanfrecce Hiroshima six wins, one draw. four of these ten matches had three or more goals (over 2,5).
Top Goalscorers
  T. Morishima 7 goals | M. Mitsuta 6 goals |  M. Kato 5 goals |
Cerezo Osaka missing players
Sanfrecce Hiroshima missing players
| Cerezo Osaka | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 14 | Played | P | 12 | 25 | ||
| 13 | 9 | Won | W | 7 | 17 | ||
| 7 | 3 | Drew | D | 2 | 4 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Lost | L | 3 | 4 | ||
| 46 | 25 | Scored | S | 19 | 51 | ||
| 33 | 16 | Conceded | C | 12 | 21 | ||
| 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 92% | 96% | ||
| 92% | 93% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 83% | 88% | ||
| 68% | 64% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 58% | 60% | ||
| 32% | 29% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 17% | 24% | ||
| 16% | 7% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 8% | 12% | ||
| 68% | 57% | BTTS | BTTS | 42% | 48% | ||
| 20% | 29% | Clean Sheets | C S | 42% | 44% | ||
| 12% | 14% | Failed to Score | F T | 25% | 12% | ||
| 5 | 5.5 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 5.1 | 5.2 | ||
| 4.5 | 3.5 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 3.5 | 3.3 | ||
| 0.6 | 0.5 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.4 | 1 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 1 | ||
| 12.5 | 14.1 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 14.8 | 15.4 | ||
| 5.5 | 5.5 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 4.9 | 5.7 | ||
| 33% | 31% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 32% | 36% | ||
| 11.5 | 10.4 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 10.7 | 9.4 | ||
| 4.4 | 4.1 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.1 | 3.6 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 28 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 45 | 28 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 26 | 12 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 19 | 16 | 17 | 50 |
| 2 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 25 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 53 | 29 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 6 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 28 | 23 | 24 | 49 |
| 3 | Kawasaki Frontale | 26 | 15 | 4 | 7 | 45 | 30 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 26 | 14 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 19 | 16 | 15 | 49 |
| 4 | Kashima Antlers | 28 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 41 | 36 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 25 | 21 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 15 | 5 | 45 |
| 5 | Kashiwa Reysol | 28 | 13 | 5 | 10 | 39 | 35 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 20 | 22 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 13 | 4 | 44 |
| 6 | Cerezo Osaka | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 40 | 31 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 14 | 9 | 41 |
| 7 | Sagan Tosu | 28 | 9 | 13 | 6 | 40 | 33 | 14 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 20 | 9 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 24 | 7 | 40 |
| 8 | Tokyo | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 35 | 34 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 16 | 24 | 1 | 39 |
| 9 | Urawa Reds | 26 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 38 | 26 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 24 | 12 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 36 |
| 10 | Nagoya Grampus | 27 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 25 | 28 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 17 | -3 | 36 |
| 11 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 28 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 35 | 41 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 26 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 15 | -6 | 31 |
| 12 | Consadole Sapporo | 27 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 29 | 45 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 17 | 29 | -16 | 31 |
| 13 | Kyoto Sanga | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 25 | 29 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 16 | -4 | 29 |
| 14 | Shonan Bellmare | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 22 | 32 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 22 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 10 | -10 | 29 |
| 15 | Avispa Fukuoka | 28 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 21 | 31 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 17 | -10 | 28 |
| 16 | Gamba Osaka | 28 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 16 | 21 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 21 | -14 | 28 |
| 17 | Vissel Kobe | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 23 | 34 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 23 | -11 | 24 |
| 18 | Júbilo Iwata | 27 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 25 | 45 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 23 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 22 | -20 | 23 |
