National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Albirex Niigata or Kashiwa Reysol that keep their silverware dream alive.
The hosts Albirex Niigata saw competitive action as recent as four days ago, playing in the J-League. This match was also played here at Denka Big Swan Stadium. With two consecutive home games the intense schedule is somewhat softened. Still, Kashiwa Reysol have had more rest.
Albirex Niigata form and stats
1 victory, 1 draw and 1 defeat. That’s what Albirex Niigata have to build on here at Denka Big Swan Stadium in the J-League.
The Albirex Niigata crowd went home unhappy last time out, seeing their beloved players lose 1-3 to Nagoya Grampus here at Denka Big Swan Stadium. Midfield player Gomes got a match rating of 7.63 in that game, the max score being 10. Gomes hit one key pass, dribled past the opponent 4 of 5 times and had 23 successful passes (of 28 total).
Preceding that result, a home victory hosting Kashima Antlers in the J-League Cup. This is expected to be a close game, with Albirex Niigata perhaps considered small favourites due to their home advantage. Looking back at earlier matches similar to this one (expected to be close with Albirex as a small favourite), we find 7 games. Albirex Niigata has won 3 of these, drawn 2 and lost 2.
There will be little rest for Albirex Niigata after this match as they are travelling to Vissel Kobe for a J-League game in only four days.
Albirex has scored 4 league goals at home this season, in 3 matches. Albirex Niigata have conceded 5 from these games.
Kashiwa Reysol form and stats
Kashiwa Reysol's mission in J-League Cup last season failed in the group stage.No J-League points yet away for Kashiwa Reysol, from their first 2 matches.
The attacking players of Kashiwa have been feeble for some time now, the team not scoring a league goal in the last 425 minutes.
The manager Júnior was unhappy after their last game, played at their home venue SANKYO FRONTIER Kashiwa Stadium. Kashiwa Reysol suffered a 0-3 loss to Urawa Reds. Grot, attacking player, was the top performer on the team in that game, scoring a match rating of 7.0. Grot hit one key pass.
Preceding that, 3-3 away against Avispa Fukuoka in the J-League Cup. As mentioned above, this is an open game with no clear favourite. We have found 8 similar matches played by Kashiwa Reysol in our archives, and the results are: 3 wins for Kashiwa Reysol, 3 draws and 2 defeats.
A new game in only four days for Kashiwa, the J-League home match versus Kashima Antlers. Busy days.
It's early days yet, but Kashiwa Reysol has scored 0 and conceded 2 goals from their travels in the league so far (2 games).
Head 2 Head
Kashiwa Reysol have not lost in the last 5 fixtures (3-2-0) against Albirex Niigata.Top Goalscorers
  S. Ota 4 goals | R. Ito 2 goals |  M. Hosoya 2 goals |
Albirex Niigata missing players
Kashiwa Reysol missing players
| Albirex Niigata | Kashiwa Reysol | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 12 | 25 | ||
| 14 | 8 | Won | W | 3 | 4 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Drew | D | 4 | 9 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Lost | L | 5 | 12 | ||
| 41 | 21 | Scored | S | 13 | 26 | ||
| 24 | 12 | Conceded | C | 17 | 42 | ||
| 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 92% | 92% | ||
| 72% | 62% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 58% | 68% | ||
| 56% | 54% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 50% | 52% | ||
| 28% | 31% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 25% | 24% | ||
| 4% | 8% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 17% | 16% | ||
| 48% | 38% | BTTS | BTTS | 58% | 60% | ||
| 40% | 54% | Clean Sheets | C S | 25% | 20% | ||
| 12% | 8% | Failed to Score | F T | 25% | 28% | ||
| 4.8 | 4.8 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4.1 | 4.2 | ||
| 4.9 | 4.2 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 5.4 | 4.7 | ||
| 0.6 | 0.7 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.6 | 1.5 | ||
| 1 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 1 | ||
| 12 | 12.7 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 9.9 | 10.1 | ||
| 5.1 | 5.3 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.8 | 3.8 | ||
| 32% | 30% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 28% | 27% | ||
| 9.9 | 9.4 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 12.4 | 11.7 | ||
| 3.7 | 3.5 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.3 | 4.3 | ||
| 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 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Albirex Niigata | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Kashiwa Reysol | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Kashima Antlers | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 1 |
| 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 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 15 |
| 2 | Nagoya Grampus | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 13 |
| 3 | Urawa Reds | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 12 |
| 4 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| 5 | Avispa Fukuoka | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
| 6 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 10 |
| 7 | Kyoto Sanga | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| 8 | Shonan Bellmare | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 9 | Tokyo | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| 10 | Cerezo Osaka | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| 11 | Kawasaki Frontale | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 8 |
| 12 | Albirex Niigata | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | -1 | 8 |
| 13 | Kashima Antlers | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| 14 | Sagan Tosu | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -4 | 7 |
| 15 | Consadole Sapporo | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | -1 | 6 |
| 16 | Gamba Osaka | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | -8 | 3 |
| 17 | Yokohama | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -8 | 2 |
| 18 | Kashiwa Reysol | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -8 | 2 |
