National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Urawa Reds or Kawasaki Frontale that keep their silverware dream alive.
It’s busy days for these teams as both were in action only a few days ago. There’s no rest for the wicked, or in this case; no rest for Urawa and Kawasaki Frontale.
Urawa Reds form and stats
Last season their J-League Cup adventure ended in the semi-finals.4 victories, 0 draws and 1 defeat. That’s what Urawa Reds have to build on here at Saitama Stadium 2002 in the J-League.
An away draw last time out for Urawa Reds, facing Avispa Fukuoka in a game that ended 0-0. The goalie Nishikawa was named most valuable player of the team in that game, scoring 8.04 out of ten. Nishikawa topped it up with a clean sheet.
Before that game, the 3-1 home victory against Gamba Osaka.This is expected to be a close game, with Urawa Reds perhaps considered small favourites due to their home advantage. Looking back at earlier matches similar to this one (expected to be close with Urawa Reds as a small favourite), we find 10 games. Urawa has won 6 of these, drawn 3 and lost 1.
Urawa Reds are traveling soon after this match as the J-League match at Kyoto Sanga awaits in three days.
Urawa Reds can score goals in their home matches. After 5 league matches they have found the net 11 times. 6 goals have been conceded.
Kawasaki Frontale form and stats
They also participated in J-League Cup last season. This ended in the quarter-finals, when Cerezo Osaka drew the shortest straw.Playing away, Kawasaki Frontale have won 4 games, drawn 0 and suffered 4 defeats in the J-League this season.
Two away games in a row for Kawasaki, who will hope to get a better result in this one after losing 1-2 versus Yokohama. Seko got a match rating of 8.01 in that game, top player of the team. Seko scored one goal, hit two key passes and had 70 successful passes (of 82 total).
Preceding that game, the 1-2 loss visiting Tokyo's place.So, this is expected to be a close game, an even contest. Looking at earlier matches with Kawasaki Frontale playing away and similar expectations, we found 4 relevant matches. Results were 2 Kawasaki Frontale wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat.
The visitors are returning home after this fixture, hosting Kashiwa Reysol in just four days.
Kawasaki Frontale has displayed an ability to score goals in away matches in the league this season, 12 goals from 8 games. Kawasaki have conceded 12 goals in these games.
Head 2 Head
The former head to head meeting ended Kawasaki Frontale - Urawa Reds 0-0, played this season. H2H stats regardless of arena (last ten matches): Urawa two wins, five draws and Kawasaki Frontale three victories. As for goals, five matches ended with three or more goals (over 2,5), five games had two or less.
Top Goalscorers
  T. Miyashiro 4 goals |   A. Scholz 3 goals |  T. Akimoto 2 goals |
Urawa Reds missing players
Kawasaki Frontale missing players
| Urawa Reds | Kawasaki Frontale | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 13 | 25 | ||
| 9 | 7 | Won | W | 6 | 11 | ||
| 10 | 4 | Drew | D | 1 | 6 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Lost | L | 6 | 8 | ||
| 30 | 22 | Scored | S | 26 | 45 | ||
| 31 | 17 | Conceded | C | 25 | 35 | ||
| 84% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 88% | ||
| 76% | 92% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 85% | 76% | ||
| 40% | 54% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 77% | 64% | ||
| 24% | 31% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 54% | 40% | ||
| 16% | 15% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 38% | 28% | ||
| 56% | 77% | BTTS | BTTS | 77% | 68% | ||
| 28% | 8% | Clean Sheets | C S | 8% | 24% | ||
| 32% | 15% | Failed to Score | F T | 15% | 20% | ||
| 4.1 | 4.9 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 3.5 | 4.3 | ||
| 5.7 | 3.9 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.2 | 4.3 | ||
| 1 | 0.4 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.4 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 6 | 7 | ||
| 11.9 | 14.6 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 10 | 11.2 | ||
| 4 | 5.1 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 4.2 | 4.6 | ||
| 28% | 32% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 48% | 39% | ||
| 11.4 | 10.8 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 12.3 | 10.9 | ||
| 3.4 | 3.2 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.2 | 3.7 | ||
| 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 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 2 | Kawasaki Frontale | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| 3 | Urawa Reds | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | -8 | 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 |
