National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Kashiwa Reysol or Albirex Niigata that keep their silverware dream alive.
It's no vacation for neither Kashiwa Reysol nor Albirex Niigata 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.
Kashiwa Reysol form and stats
Last season, Kashiwa Reysol's J-League Cup journey ended in the group stage.Kashiwa Reysol have collected 5 points from their J-League home games so far after 1-2-2.
Kashiwa Reysol drew their last game, 1-1 away at Sagan Tosu. Midfielder Sávio was the best player on the team with a rating of 8.64 (out of ten) in that game. Sávio scored one goal, hit the woodwork once and hit four key passes.
Before that game, the 1-0 home victory against Kashima Antlers.This is expected to be a close game, with Kashiwa Reysol perhaps considered small favourites due to their home advantage. Looking back at earlier matches similar to this one (expected to be close with Kashiwa Reysol as a small favourite), we find 16 games. Kashiwa has won 6 of these, drawn 3 and lost 7.
There will be little rest for Kashiwa Reysol after this match as they are travelling to Cerezo Osaka for a J-League game in only four days.
Kashiwa Reysol have scored {4 league goals} here from 5 matches, not a lot. Kashiwa have conceded 9 from these games.
Albirex Niigata form and stats
1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss. That’s the product of Albirex Niigata playing as the away team in the J-League this season.
Impressive finishing from Ito secured the home win 3-2 against Avispa Fukuoka in their previous game. An amazing comeback from Albirex Niigata last time out, trailing 0-2 before rallying an inspired fight which eventually led to Ito scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute. Ito certainly enjoyed Albirex Niigata's last game versus Avispa Fukuoka, appearing multiple times in the match report with three goals and the 3-2 victory. Ito got a match rating of 9.45 in that game, top player of the team. Ito scored three goals and hit two key passes.
A 0-0 draw at Vissel Kobe's stadium before that.As mentioned above, this is an open game with no clear favourite. We have found 5 similar matches played by Albirex in our archives, and the results are: 0 wins for Albirex Niigata, 2 draws and 3 defeats.
The visitors are returning home after this fixture, hosting Kashima Antlers in just four days.
Scoring goals is the main ingredient in creating success in football, and not only at home. So far Albirex Niigata have scored 5 goals in 4 league games away. As opposed to that, Albirex Niigata have seen the ball go into their own net 5 times on the road.
Head 2 Head
These competitors have fought before this season: Albirex Niigata - Kashiwa Reysol 2-0. Statistics for the last ten meetings featuring these two teams are: three wins for Kashiwa, four draws and three wins for Albirex Niigata. Over 2,5 goals: three times; under 2,5 goals: seven games.
Top Goalscorers
  R. Ito 4 goals | S. Ota 4 goals |  M. Hosoya 3 goals |
Kashiwa Reysol missing players
Albirex Niigata missing players
| Kashiwa Reysol | Albirex Niigata | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 12 | Played | P | 11 | 25 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Won | W | 4 | 14 | ||
| 10 | 5 | Drew | D | 4 | 6 | ||
| 11 | 5 | Lost | L | 3 | 5 | ||
| 26 | 13 | Scored | S | 14 | 38 | ||
| 42 | 22 | Conceded | C | 11 | 22 | ||
| 92% | 92% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 91% | 96% | ||
| 72% | 75% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 73% | 68% | ||
| 48% | 50% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 45% | 48% | ||
| 24% | 25% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 18% | 24% | ||
| 16% | 17% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 4% | ||
| 60% | 58% | BTTS | BTTS | 55% | 44% | ||
| 20% | 25% | Clean Sheets | C S | 27% | 44% | ||
| 28% | 25% | Failed to Score | F T | 27% | 16% | ||
| 4.2 | 4.1 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4.9 | 4.9 | ||
| 5.2 | 4.4 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 6.1 | 5.1 | ||
| 1.5 | 1.6 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 0.8 | 0.7 | ||
| 1 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 1 | ||
| 10.1 | 9.1 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 10.3 | 11.4 | ||
| 3.9 | 3.5 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.5 | 4.6 | ||
| 27% | 31% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 37% | 33% | ||
| 11.9 | 11.5 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 10.8 | 9.9 | ||
| 4.5 | 4.4 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.2 | 3.8 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Albirex Niigata | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | Avispa Fukuoka | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Kashima Antlers | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Kashiwa Reysol | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 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 | Vissel Kobe | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 14 | 19 |
| 2 | Nagoya Grampus | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
| 3 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 17 |
| 4 | Urawa Reds | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 16 |
| 5 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 14 |
| 6 | Avispa Fukuoka | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 14 |
| 7 | Kyoto Sanga | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 12 |
| 8 | Albirex Niigata | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 12 |
| 9 | Cerezo Osaka | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 11 |
| 10 | Shonan Bellmare | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 11 | Tokyo | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 9 |
| 12 | Consadole Sapporo | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 10 | -3 | 9 |
| 13 | Kawasaki Frontale | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -3 | 8 |
| 14 | Sagan Tosu | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -5 | 8 |
| 15 | Kashima Antlers | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | -4 | 7 |
| 16 | Gamba Osaka | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 12 | -7 | 6 |
| 17 | Kashiwa Reysol | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -7 | 6 |
| 18 | Yokohama | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 22 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | -16 | 2 |
