National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Montedio Yamagata or ThespaKusatsu Gunma that keep their silverware dream alive.
It’s busy days for these teams as both were in action only a few days ago. There’s no rest for the wicked, or in this case; no rest for Montedio Yamagata and ThespaKusatsu Gunma.
Montedio Yamagata form and stats
Last season their Emperor Cup adventure ended in the 2nd round.Montedio Yamagata have collected 14 points from their J2-League home games so far after 4-2-2.
Montedio Yamagata are hoping to put things right at home after a defeat in their previous match, the score 0-3 away versus Albirex Niigata.
Ahead of that match, Montedio Yamagata won a home game hosting Renofa Yamaguchi (1-0).Another home game is coming up fairly shortly for the hosts, as Ryūkyū are coming to town in four days.
Montedio's goalkeeper has had to pick the ball out of their own net 9 times. For more goal stats, check the Statistics tab above.
ThespaKusatsu Gunma form and stats
ThespaKusatsu Gunma's mission in Emperor Cup last season failed in the 4th round.The story so far for the visiting team on their J2-League travels is 4 wins, 1 draw and 4 defeats.
This fixture can not go any worse than the last one, the home loss versus Oita Trinita with 0-1 on the scoreboard.
Preceding that, the 2-3 home loss versus Roasso Kumamoto.There might be some complaints about the fixture list from the ThespaKusatsu Gunma manager Ōtsuki as the team has another away game coming up in only four days, this time against Renofa Yamaguchi.
The attacking power of ThespaKusatsu when travelling is not overwhelming with 8 goals scored from 9 league matches away.
Head 2 Head
Head-to-head data (for the former ten meetings): Montedio Yamagata won seven games, zero matches ended in a draw and ThespaKusatsu Gunma got three wins. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: five / fiveTop Goalscorers
  Y. Fujimoto 7 goals |  S. Hiramatsu 5 goals | G. Alves Dellatorre 4 goals |
Montedio Yamagata missing players
ThespaKusatsu Gunma missing players
| Montedio Yamagata | ThespaKusatsu Gunma | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 12 | Played | P | 12 | 25 | ||
| 9 | 5 | Won | W | 4 | 6 | ||
| 7 | 3 | Drew | D | 2 | 8 | ||
| 9 | 4 | Lost | L | 6 | 11 | ||
| 40 | 27 | Scored | S | 11 | 22 | ||
| 33 | 19 | Conceded | C | 17 | 31 | ||
| 96% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 92% | 80% | ||
| 76% | 83% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 50% | 44% | ||
| 52% | 58% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 33% | 32% | ||
| 24% | 50% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 33% | 28% | ||
| 20% | 42% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 25% | 24% | ||
| 60% | 67% | BTTS | BTTS | 42% | 40% | ||
| 24% | 25% | Clean Sheets | C S | 42% | 40% | ||
| 20% | 8% | Failed to Score | F T | 25% | 40% | ||
| 6 | 5.6 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 5.3 | 4.7 | ||
| 5.7 | 6.4 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 5.6 | 5.9 | ||
| 0.9 | 0.8 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 0.8 | 1 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 8.8 | 9.6 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 5.8 | 6.9 | ||
| 4.1 | 5.2 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 2 | 2.7 | ||
| 39% | 44% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 45% | 32% | ||
| 9 | 9.2 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 9.2 | 9.6 | ||
| 3.4 | 3.7 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 3 | 3.3 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Vegalta Sendai | 19 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 23 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 13 | 13 | 39 |
| 2 | Albirex Niigata | 19 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 33 | 16 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 38 |
| 3 | Yokohama | 19 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 30 | 22 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 38 |
| 4 | Machida Zelvia | 19 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 23 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 29 |
| 5 | Fagiano Okayama | 19 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 21 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 29 |
| 6 | Roasso Kumamoto | 19 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 25 | 27 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 15 | -2 | 28 |
| 7 | Montedio Yamagata | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 26 | 19 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 27 |
| 8 | Zweigen Kanazawa | 19 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 25 | 23 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 27 |
| 9 | Ventforet Kofu | 19 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 23 | 23 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 14 | 0 | 26 |
| 10 | JEF United | 19 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 17 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 26 |
| 11 | Oita Trinita | 19 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 24 | 22 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 25 |
| 12 | V-Varen Nagasaki | 19 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 19 | 19 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 25 |
| 13 | Blaublitz Akita | 19 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 18 | 24 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 14 | -6 | 25 |
| 14 | Tokyo Verdy | 19 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 33 | 33 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 21 | 0 | 24 |
| 15 | Tokushima Vortis | 19 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 20 | 14 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 23 |
| 16 | Mito Hollyhock | 19 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 24 | 25 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 13 | -1 | 22 |
| 17 | ThespaKusatsu Gunma | 19 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 18 | 22 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 9 | -4 | 22 |
| 18 | Renofa Yamaguchi | 19 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 21 | 22 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 13 | -1 | 21 |
| 19 | Tochigi | 19 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 19 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 11 | -7 | 21 |
| 20 | Omiya Ardija | 19 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 20 | 31 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 13 | -11 | 18 |
| 21 | Ryūkyū | 19 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 23 | 35 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 21 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 14 | -12 | 15 |
| 22 | Grulla Morioka | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 11 | 33 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 20 | -22 | 14 |
