National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Tokyo or Avispa Fukuoka that keep their silverware dream alive.
These teams have little in common geographically as Avispa Fukuoka have to travel 1000 kilometers to reach their opponents. The trip home will be especially long if the match ends in defeat.
It's no vacation for neither Tokyo nor Avispa Fukuoka 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.
Tokyo form and stats
Last season, Tokyo's J-League Cup journey ended in the semi-finals against Nagoya Grampus.The total J-League statistics at home this season for Tokyo are 3-2-1 (wins-draws-losses).
Tokyo are hoping to put things right at home after a defeat in their previous match, the score 1-2 away versus Júbilo Iwata. Midfield player Matsuki got a match rating of 7.01 in that game, the max score being 10. Matsuki hit one key pass and had 28 successful passes (of 34 total).
Preceding that match was the home J-League game against Sagan Tosu that was lost 0-1.This is expected to be a close game, with Tokyo perhaps considered small favourites due to their home advantage. Looking back at earlier matches similar to this one (expected to be close with Tokyo as a small favourite), we find 12 games. Tokyo has won 7 of these, drawn 1 and lost 4.
There's a new fixture coming up fairly quickly for Tokyo, as the J-League home game vs Kashiwa Reysol is only three days away.
The Tokyo fans would probably like to see some more goals scored at their own stadium in the league, the tally being 7 in 6 matches. Tokyo are not conceding a lot of goals here at Ajinomoto Stadium in the league, averaging less than one per game. The total is 3 from 6 matches.
Avispa Fukuoka form and stats
Last season their J-League Cup adventure ended in the group stage.Playing away, Avispa Fukuoka have won 2 games, drawn 1 and suffered 3 defeats in the J-League this season.
Avispa Fukuoka have been frustrated by their lack of goals lately, as they haven't scored in the league since they found the net 198 minutes ago. Lukian was the goal scorer.
Two away games in a row for Avispa Fukuoka, who will hope to get a better result in this one after losing 0-2 versus Kawasaki Frontale. Nara, who plays in defense, got the "man of the match" on his team with the rating 7.21. Nara won 5 of 9 duels.
A draw for Fukuoka before that, at their own venue hosting Shonan Bellmare (0-0).As mentioned above, this is an open game with no clear favourite. We have found 15 similar matches played by Avispa Fukuoka in our archives, and the results are: 8 wins for Avispa Fukuoka, 4 draws and 3 defeats.
The visitors are returning home after this fixture, hosting Yokohama F. Marinos in just three days.
The attacking power of Fukuoka when travelling is not overwhelming with 4 goals scored from 6 league matches away.
Head 2 Head
The latest archived scoreline featuring both these participants is the Avispa Fukuoka - Tokyo 1-0 played earlier this season. Head to head statistics (for the former ten meetings): Tokyo won two games, three matches ended with a tie and Avispa Fukuoka have five wins. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: three / sevenTop Goalscorers
  A. dos Santos da Silva 4 goals |  Y. Yamagishi 3 goals |  M. Morishige 2 goals |
Tokyo missing players
Avispa Fukuoka missing players
| Tokyo | Avispa Fukuoka | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 12 | 25 | ||
| 9 | 6 | Won | W | 2 | 7 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Drew | D | 4 | 11 | ||
| 11 | 3 | Lost | L | 6 | 7 | ||
| 25 | 16 | Scored | S | 5 | 20 | ||
| 33 | 9 | Conceded | C | 11 | 19 | ||
| 80% | 69% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 67% | 68% | ||
| 60% | 62% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 25% | 36% | ||
| 52% | 46% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 17% | 24% | ||
| 16% | 15% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 17% | 16% | ||
| 8% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 8% | 8% | ||
| 44% | 38% | BTTS | BTTS | 17% | 32% | ||
| 36% | 46% | Clean Sheets | C S | 42% | 44% | ||
| 40% | 46% | Failed to Score | F T | 75% | 56% | ||
| 4.8 | 4.8 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4.2 | 4.3 | ||
| 5.4 | 4.9 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 3.2 | 3.8 | ||
| 1.2 | 0.8 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 0.9 | 1 | ||
| 4 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | ||
| 7.8 | 8.8 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 7.9 | 8.7 | ||
| 3.4 | 3.5 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.2 | 3.6 | ||
| 29% | 35% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 13% | 22% | ||
| 10.5 | 10.5 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 6.8 | 7.5 | ||
| 4 | 3.7 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 2.6 | 2.9 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Shonan Bellmare | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| 2 | Avispa Fukuoka | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 9 |
| 3 | Júbilo Iwata | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| 4 | Tokyo | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | -2 | 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 | Kashima Antlers | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 28 |
| 2 | Kawasaki Frontale | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 26 |
| 3 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 23 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 24 |
| 4 | Kashiwa Reysol | 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 20 |
| 5 | Sagan Tosu | 13 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 15 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 19 |
| 6 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 18 |
| 7 | Tokyo | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 | -1 | 18 |
| 8 | Cerezo Osaka | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 16 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 17 |
| 9 | Kyoto Sanga | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 17 |
| 10 | Gamba Osaka | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 17 |
| 11 | Consadole Sapporo | 13 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 11 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 12 | -4 | 17 |
| 12 | Avispa Fukuoka | 13 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 15 |
| 13 | Nagoya Grampus | 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | -3 | 14 |
| 14 | Júbilo Iwata | 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 21 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 13 | -4 | 14 |
| 15 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 13 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 7 | -3 | 13 |
| 16 | Urawa Reds | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 12 |
| 17 | Vissel Kobe | 12 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 12 | -9 | 7 |
| 18 | Shonan Bellmare | 13 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 8 | -13 | 7 |
