National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Albirex Niigata or Avispa Fukuoka that keep their silverware dream alive.
Everyone involved with the away team has to get their travel gear ready for this match as there's a whopping 1100 kilometers to cover before arriving at the match.
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.
Albirex Niigata form and stats
The J-League stats playing at home this season for Albirex Niigata are 3-2-2 (wins-draws-losses).
No payout for Albirex in their previous match, an away game at Sagan Tosu that ended in defeat 0-2. Midfielder Ito was the best player on the team with a rating of 7.31 (out of ten) in that game. Ito hit six key passes, dribled past the opponent 1 of 1 times and had 31 successful passes (of 38 total).
Before that game, the 2-1 home victory against Yokohama F. Marinos.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 Albirex Niigata have performed in matches similar to this (as small favourites). Our database has found 8 matches with the results: Won 5, drawn 1 and lost 2.
There's a new fixture coming up fairly quickly for Albirex, as the J-League home game vs Gamba Osaka is only four days away.
The Albirex Niigata fans would probably like to see some more goals scored at their own stadium in the league, the tally being 9 in 7 matches. On the other hand, Albirex Niigata have conceded 10 goals.
Avispa Fukuoka form and stats
Avispa Fukuoka was sent out of J-League Cup in the semi-finals last season, when Sanfrecce Hiroshima turned out to be too strong.There's been little loot from Avispa Fukuoka's travels as they have only collected 3 points from 6 away games in the J-League. Avispa Fukuoka only have 0 wins to counter their 3 defeats and 3 draws.
Fukuoka are looking to quickly end their 240 minutes long goal drought in the J-League. Avispa Fukuoka have succeeded in guarding their own goal lately, led by their goalkeeper Masaaki Murakami. It's been 181 minutes since they last conceded in J-League.
Avispa Fukuoka's last game ended in a draw, the home match versus Urawa Reds that finished 0-0. Murakami was the team player of the game with the player rating of 7.82. The agile goalkeeper Murakami topped it up with a clean sheet.
Ahead of that game was the 0-0 draw at home against Sagan Tosu in the J-League.As mentioned above, this is an open game with no clear favourite. We have found 14 similar matches played by Avispa Fukuoka in our archives, and the results are: 3 wins for Avispa Fukuoka, 5 draws and 6 defeats.
The schedule is very tough for Fukuoka now as they have to travel again shortly after this match. A J-League game at Yokohama F. Marinos is waiting in only four days.
As for defending, Avispa Fukuoka rarely keep clean sheets as they have conceded 10 goals from these away matches.
Head 2 Head
The teams have met each other already this season, with the final score Avispa Fukuoka - Albirex Niigata 1-0 logged in the official records. Previous ten meetings involving these squads: Albirex won four, Avispa Fukuoka were winners in six and we saw zero draws. six games with over 2,5 goals, four matches with less than 2,5 goals.
Top Goalscorers
  R. Ito 7 goals |  Y. Yamagishi 6 goals | S. Ota 4 goals |
Albirex Niigata missing players
Avispa Fukuoka missing players
| Albirex Niigata | Avispa Fukuoka | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 10 | 25 | ||
| 11 | 9 | Won | W | 1 | 10 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Drew | D | 5 | 8 | ||
| 9 | 2 | Lost | L | 4 | 7 | ||
| 31 | 20 | Scored | S | 9 | 31 | ||
| 28 | 11 | Conceded | C | 13 | 30 | ||
| 92% | 92% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 80% | 84% | ||
| 68% | 69% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 60% | 60% | ||
| 48% | 46% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 40% | 52% | ||
| 20% | 23% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 30% | 28% | ||
| 8% | 8% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 10% | 16% | ||
| 48% | 38% | BTTS | BTTS | 60% | 60% | ||
| 32% | 54% | Clean Sheets | C S | 20% | 28% | ||
| 28% | 15% | Failed to Score | F T | 40% | 28% | ||
| 5.2 | 5.2 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 2.7 | 3.8 | ||
| 5 | 4.9 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.8 | 4.3 | ||
| 0.9 | 0.5 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.8 | 1.5 | ||
| 1 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | ||
| 11.9 | 13.4 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 8.2 | 10.8 | ||
| 4.4 | 5.5 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 2.8 | 3.7 | ||
| 28% | 28% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 36% | 35% | ||
| 10.7 | 10.5 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 12 | 9.2 | ||
| 4.2 | 3.8 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.1 | 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 | Avispa Fukuoka | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | Albirex Niigata | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Kashiwa Reysol | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -1 | 5 |
| 4 | Kashima Antlers | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -1 | 4 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Vissel Kobe | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 29 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 20 | 30 |
| 2 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 28 | 15 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 27 |
| 3 | Nagoya Grampus | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 26 |
| 4 | Kashima Antlers | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 23 |
| 5 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 23 |
| 6 | Cerezo Osaka | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 23 |
| 7 | Consadole Sapporo | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 31 | 25 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 13 | 6 | 22 |
| 8 | Urawa Reds | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 21 |
| 9 | Avispa Fukuoka | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 10 | -1 | 20 |
| 10 | Tokyo | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 19 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 | -2 | 19 |
| 11 | Kawasaki Frontale | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 18 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 12 | -1 | 18 |
| 12 | Sagan Tosu | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 7 | -3 | 18 |
| 13 | Albirex Niigata | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 | -5 | 16 |
| 14 | Kyoto Sanga | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 16 | 22 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 11 | -6 | 13 |
| 15 | Kashiwa Reysol | 14 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | -8 | 12 |
| 16 | Yokohama | 14 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 31 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 14 | -19 | 12 |
| 17 | Shonan Bellmare | 13 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 21 | 24 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 10 | -3 | 11 |
| 18 | Gamba Osaka | 14 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 30 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 20 | -17 | 7 |
