Perhaps a welcome break from league football as Kashima Antlers & Albirex Niigata face off to decide who makes it to next stage of the J-League Cup. All the pre-match information is available here!
This should be an intriguing game with lots of action and energy as both sides are well refreshed since they last saw competitive action. Get ready!
Kashima Antlers form and stats
Kashima Antlers participated in J-League Cup the last season, where they reached the play-offs and lost against Avispa Fukuoka.Kashima Antlers have collected 11 points from their J-League home games so far after 3-2-3.
The Kashima goalkeeper Yuya Oki is looking to record 90 more "clean sheet" minutes as his team have now played 201 minutes without conceding a goal in the J-League.
The Kashima Antlers fans enjoyed the previous game, watching their team host Shonan Bellmare and win 1-0. Midfielder Higuchi was the best player on the team with a rating of 8.01 (out of ten) in that game. Higuchi scored one goal, hit one key pass, dribled past the opponent 1 of 2 times and had 25 successful passes (of 29 total).
A home victory before that one, as expected. The team were big favourites against Honda and won 3-0. The hosts are favourites to win this game, with an estimated chance of about 55-60% of that outcome. Earlier Kashima matches with similar probabilities have ended with 4 wins, 0 draws and 0 defeats (from 4 games).
Kashima Antlers has scored 11 league goals at home this season, in 8 matches. 10 goals have been conceded.
Albirex Niigata form and stats
Albirex Niigata have only collected 6 points from their away games in the J-League, after 1-3-4 (8 played).
Albirex Niigata's previous game was their home loss versus Kyoto Sanga (1-3). Midfielder Ito was the best performer of that match, with a rating of 7.81. Ito hit five key passes and dribled past the opponent 1 of 2 times.
A home victory as anticipated against Biwako Shiga preceding that, in the Emperor Cup.
As for defending, Albirex Niigata rarely keep clean sheets as they have conceded 12 goals from these away matches.
Head 2 Head
The previous head-to-head match ended Albirex Niigata - Kashima 1-0, earlier this season. Head-2-head stats last ten meetings: seven - one - two (Kashima Antlers wins - draws - Albirex Niigata wins). As for goals, five matches ended with three or more goals (over 2,5), five had two or less.
Top Goalscorers
  Y. Suzuki 8 goals | K. Chinen 4 goals |  S. Ota 4 goals |
Kashima Antlers missing players
Albirex Niigata missing players
| Kashima Antlers | Albirex Niigata | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 12 | Played | P | 11 | 25 | ||
| 12 | 6 | Won | W | 1 | 8 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Drew | D | 3 | 5 | ||
| 7 | 3 | Lost | L | 7 | 12 | ||
| 31 | 16 | Scored | S | 10 | 28 | ||
| 20 | 10 | Conceded | C | 17 | 36 | ||
| 88% | 83% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 91% | 92% | ||
| 56% | 58% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 64% | 68% | ||
| 36% | 42% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 55% | 56% | ||
| 16% | 17% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 27% | 32% | ||
| 4% | 8% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 9% | 8% | ||
| 36% | 33% | BTTS | BTTS | 55% | 56% | ||
| 56% | 67% | Clean Sheets | C S | 9% | 24% | ||
| 20% | 17% | Failed to Score | F T | 45% | 28% | ||
| 4.9 | 5.1 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 5.3 | 5.8 | ||
| 4.5 | 4.2 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 5.1 | 4.8 | ||
| 1.2 | 0.8 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.5 | 1 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 1 | ||
| 10.4 | 11.1 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 11.4 | 13 | ||
| 3.5 | 3.8 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.5 | 4.3 | ||
| 36% | 35% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 26% | 26% | ||
| 9 | 9.1 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 11.3 | 11.2 | ||
| 2.4 | 2.4 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.8 | 4.2 | ||
| 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 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | Kashima Antlers | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| 3 | Albirex Niigata | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | Kashiwa Reysol | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -2 | 5 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 17 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 37 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 36 |
| 2 | Nagoya Grampus | 17 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 25 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 35 |
| 3 | Vissel Kobe | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 33 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 7 | 20 | 33 |
| 4 | Urawa Reds | 16 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 20 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 29 |
| 5 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 17 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 22 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 29 |
| 6 | Cerezo Osaka | 17 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 23 | 19 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 29 |
| 7 | Kashima Antlers | 17 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 23 | 16 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 28 |
| 8 | Consadole Sapporo | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 38 | 32 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 18 | 6 | 26 |
| 9 | Kawasaki Frontale | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 20 | 18 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 24 |
| 10 | Sagan Tosu | 17 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 19 | 21 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 8 | -2 | 23 |
| 11 | Avispa Fukuoka | 17 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 22 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 14 | -5 | 20 |
| 12 | Tokyo | 17 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 22 | 28 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 18 | -6 | 19 |
| 13 | Albirex Niigata | 17 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 19 | 28 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 12 | -9 | 17 |
| 14 | Kyoto Sanga | 17 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 20 | 28 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 15 | -8 | 16 |
| 15 | Gamba Osaka | 17 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 21 | 33 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 22 | -12 | 16 |
| 16 | Yokohama | 17 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 35 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 16 | -22 | 13 |
| 17 | Shonan Bellmare | 16 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 23 | 28 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 12 | -5 | 12 |
| 18 | Kashiwa Reysol | 17 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 16 | 28 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 11 | -12 | 12 |
