National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Shimizu S-Pulse or Grulla Morioka that keep their silverware dream alive.
It's no vacation for neither Shimizu S-Pulse nor Grulla Morioka as both were in action only a few days ago. Expect some tired legs on the pitch and/or possibly some changes to the lineups.
Shimizu S-Pulse form and stats
This is not the first game this season in the Emperor Cup for Shimizu, as the manager M. Lotina Oruecheberría led his troops to eliminate Fukuyama City, and reach the 3rd Round. Shimizu participated in Emperor Cup the last season, where they reached the semi-finals.The home fans haven’t been spoiled with victories in the J-League this season. Shimizu S-Pulse have only managed 1 win, 4 draws and 3 losses from their games here at Iwagin Stadium. Hopes of three in a row are alive for Shimizu after consecutive victories at their own ground.
Shimizu S-Pulse's last game was hosting Oita Trinita and winning 1-0. Defender Teruki Hara got the top score of the team in the match with a rating of 7.83/10. Hara scored one goal, hit three key passes and won 2 of 4 duels.
A 1-1 draw away in the J-League before that, with Yokohama the opponent.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 Shimizu have performed under similar circumstances, so here are some numbers: When modest favourites like this (we found six games) they have won two times, drawn two and lost two.
The manager M. Lotina Oruecheberría will start preparations for the next game as soon this is finished, as the hosts are going to Tokushima Vortis in only four days.
The goals haven't exactly been flowing for Shimizu here at Iwagin Stadium in the league, with less than one goal per game on average (7 from 8 games). Defensively it’s touch-and-go for the home team as 12 goals have been conceded.
Grulla Morioka form and stats
The traveling awayteam has defeated Vegalta Sendai and Oyama in order to reach 3rd round of Emperor Cup. Last season their Emperor Cup adventure ended in the 2nd round.The story so far for the visiting team on their J3-League travels is 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats.
The attacking players of Grulla Morioka have been feeble for some time now, the team not scoring a league goal in the last 180 minutes.
Morioka are travelling again after losing away to Kataller Toyama in their previous match (0-1).
A 0-2 loss hosting YSCC before that.Morioka are the outsiders in this one, but not by much. Their performance in similar games (being the away team and moderate outsiders) is zero wins, two draws and four defeats. From a total of six matches.
The visitors will be packing their bags again in only four days as another away game awaits: The J3-League trip to Roasso Kumamoto.
Morioka are scoring more than one goal per away game on average, having accumulated 7 away goals from 6 games (in the league). They concede less than a goal on average per away game (5 so far).
Head 2 Head
Top Goalscorers
  T. Santos Santana 7 goals |   B. Alves Sabino 4 goals |  T. Nakamura 3 goals |
Shimizu S-Pulse missing players
Grulla Morioka missing players
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Grulla Morioka | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 12 | 25 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Won | W | 6 | 12 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Drew | D | 2 | 6 | ||
| 11 | 5 | Lost | L | 4 | 7 | ||
| 23 | 12 | Scored | S | 16 | 47 | ||
| 32 | 14 | Conceded | C | 8 | 23 | ||
| 88% | 85% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 96% | ||
| 64% | 62% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 58% | 72% | ||
| 40% | 38% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 25% | 40% | ||
| 12% | 8% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 8% | 24% | ||
| 12% | 8% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 8% | 16% | ||
| 44% | 31% | BTTS | BTTS | 25% | 40% | ||
| 28% | 38% | Clean Sheets | C S | 50% | 36% | ||
| 40% | 46% | Failed to Score | F T | 25% | 28% | ||
| 3.4 | 3.8 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 5.7 | 5.4 | ||
| 5.7 | 5.5 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.5 | 4.7 | ||
| 0.5 | 0.6 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.4 | 1.3 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 9.1 | 9.8 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 9.8 | 9.9 | ||
| 3.4 | 3.7 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.5 | 3.6 | ||
| 27% | 25% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 38% | 40% | ||
| 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 | 21 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 51 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 5 | 36 | 55 |
| 2 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 19 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 37 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 10 | 21 | 43 |
| 3 | Vissel Kobe | 20 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 32 | 19 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 37 |
| 4 | Nagoya Grampus | 20 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 22 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 37 |
| 5 | Urawa Reds | 21 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 24 | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 2 | 35 |
| 6 | Sagan Tosu | 20 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 24 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 34 |
| 7 | Kashima Antlers | 20 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 33 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 22 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 32 |
| 8 | Tokyo | 20 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 27 | 27 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 19 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 31 |
| 9 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 21 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 24 | 21 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 12 | 3 | 30 |
| 10 | Avispa Fukuoka | 20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 23 | 24 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 14 | -1 | 29 |
| 11 | Consadole Sapporo | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 25 | 25 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 25 |
| 12 | Cerezo Osaka | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 23 |
| 13 | Shonan Bellmare | 21 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 21 | 25 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 18 | -4 | 21 |
| 14 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 19 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 19 | 26 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 14 | -7 | 19 |
| 15 | Tokushima Vortis | 20 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 16 | 25 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 15 | -9 | 19 |
| 16 | Kashiwa Reysol | 21 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 20 | 31 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 17 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 14 | -11 | 17 |
| 17 | Vegalta Sendai | 20 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 34 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 21 | -17 | 16 |
| 18 | Gamba Osaka | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | -7 | 14 |
| 19 | Oita Trinita | 19 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 29 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 17 | -17 | 13 |
| 20 | Yokohama | 21 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 13 | 51 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 20 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 31 | -38 | 8 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Gifu | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 21 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 25 |
| 2 | Kataller Toyama | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 20 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 25 |
| 3 | Roasso Kumamoto | 13 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 23 |
| 4 | Tegevajaro Miyazaki | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 20 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 23 |
| 5 | Fukushima United | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 23 |
| 6 | Grulla Morioka | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 21 |
| 7 | Parceiro Nagano | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 20 |
| 8 | Vanraure Hachinohe | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 19 |
| 9 | Kagoshima United | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 18 |
| 10 | YSCC | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 17 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | -4 | 15 |
| 11 | Fujieda MYFC | 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 18 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | -4 | 14 |
| 12 | Azul Claro Numazu | 13 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 12 | -6 | 13 |
| 13 | Kamatamare Sanuki | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 21 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 10 | -8 | 12 |
| 14 | Imabari | 13 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 | -1 | 11 |
| 15 | Gainare Tottori | 13 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 29 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 18 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 11 | -19 | 8 |