The league table in J2-League tells a story about these teams so far, with Giravanz Kitakyushu leading ThespaKusatsu Gunma by 23 points. Match preview to follow:
Both teams should be fairly well rested for this game, as they have had some quiet days to prepare. Hopefully this will translate into lots of action on the pitch.
ThespaKusatsu Gunma have a very long trip to this away game, as there's more than 1000 kilometers in distance to cover. This could prove a challenge, at least for the supporters.
Giravanz Kitakyushu form and stats
25 points is a decent return from 12 J2-League games here at Kitakyushu Stadium for Giravanz Kitakyushu. The data says 8 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses.
In their previous game, the manager S. Kobayashi led his Giravanz Kitakyushu to a defeat in the J2-League match away at Avispa Fukuoka. The manager is hoping to put things right immediately here at Kitakyushu Stadium. Preceding that game was the away draw at Machida Zelvia that finished 1-1.
The hosts are modest favourites in this match, with the bookmakers estimating the chance of a home win at about 50% +- five percent. It's interesting to look at how Giravanz Kitakyushu have performed under similar circumstances, so here are some numbers: When modest favourites like this (we found five games) they have won four times, drawn one and lost zero.
The manager S. Kobayashi will start preparations for the next game as soon this is finished, as the hosts are going to Ventforet Kofu in only four days.
Giravanz Kitakyushu have proved capable of finding the net in their games here at Kitakyushu Stadium with 19 goals in 12 league matches. It's been trouble in front of goal recently, as only 2 of these goals has been scored in their last three home matches. 13 goals have been conceded. It's worth mentioning that 7 of these goals has been conceded in their last 3 home matches.
ThespaKusatsu Gunma form and stats
The visitors, who have the most conceded goals (43) in J2-League, are W4-D0-L7 on the road this term. That's in the J2-League. ThespaKusatsu Gunma has lost their two previous away games and are eager to kill a negative trend in its infancy.
ThespaKusatsu Gunma are travelling after their nice 1-0 home win in the J2-League against JEF United (placed 14th). A loss against Montedio Yamagata was the result prior to that, in a home game.
ThespaKusatsu Gunma are the outsiders in this one, but not by much. Their performance in similar games (being the away team and moderate outsiders) is three wins, zero draws and two defeats. From a total of five matches.
ThespaKusatsu has another fixture away, a J2-League game, against Ryūkyū in just four days. A tough schedule for the visitors!
ThespaKusatsu have scored 11 goals on their travels this season, from 11 away games in the league. Defensive performances away have varied in quality as ThespaKusatsu have conceded 18 goals on the road. For more goal statistics, check out the Statistics tab above.
Head 2 Head
ThespaKusatsu Gunma - Kitakyushu 1-2 was the story when these teams last met, earlier this season. Giravanz Kitakyushu-ThespaKusatsu Gunma H2H statistics last ten meetings regardless of arena: Giravanz Kitakyushu four wins, ThespaKusatsu Gunma four wins, two draws. four of these ten matches had three or more goals (over 2,5).Top Goalscorers
  A. Disaro 10 goals | S. Machino 7 goals |  T. Tanaka 6 goals |
Giravanz Kitakyushu missing players
ThespaKusatsu Gunma missing players
| Giravanz Kitakyushu | ThespaKusatsu Gunma | ||||||
| Total | Home | vs | Statistics | Stat | vs | Away | Total |
| 24 | 12 | 3 | Played | P | 4 | 11 | 24 |
| 14 | 8 | 3 | Won | W | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | Drew | D | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 3 | 0 | Lost | L | 4 | 7 | 16 |
| 36 | 19 | 8 | Scored | S | 1 | 11 | 20 |
| 26 | 13 | 1 | Conceded | C | 7 | 18 | 43 |
| 96% | 92% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 83% | 83% | 100% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 50% | 73% | 67% |
| 54% | 67% | 67% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 25% | 45% | 50% |
| 17% | 17% | 33% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 25% | 36% | 33% |
| 8% | 8% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 9% | 12% |
| 46% | 42% | 33% | BTTS | BTTS | 25% | 45% | 42% |
| 29% | 33% | 67% | Clean Sheets | C S | 0% | 9% | 12% |
| 29% | 33% | 0% | Failed to Score | F T | 75% | 45% | 46% |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.3 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.5 | 1 | 0.9 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 249 | 124 | 41 | Total Shots | T S | 37 | 108 | 224 |
| 95 | 44 | 16 | Shots on Target | S O | 10 | 37 | 69 |
| 38% | 43% | 50% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 10% | 30% | 29% |
- Giravanz Kitakyushu has the fewest dropped points from leading position (2) in J2-League
- Giravanz Kitakyushu has the most points (25) at home in J2-League
- Giravanz Kitakyushu have played more matches over 2,5 goals home than away.
- ThespaKusatsu Gunma has the most conceded goals (43) in J2-League
- ThespaKusatsu Gunma has the most conceded goals in the first half (20) in J2-League
- ThespaKusatsu Gunma has the the worst goal difference (-23) in J2-League
- ThespaKusatsu Gunma have conceded at least twice as many goals as they have scored.
- ThespaKusatsu Gunma haven’t played a single 0-0 game.
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Tokushima Vortis | 24 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 38 | 19 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 11 | 19 | 48 |
| 2 | Avispa Fukuoka | 24 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 28 | 19 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 46 |
| 3 | Giravanz Kitakyushu | 24 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 36 | 26 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 13 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 45 |
| 4 | V-Varen Nagasaki | 24 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 31 | 24 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 18 | 7 | 43 |
| 5 | Kyoto Sanga | 24 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 30 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 11 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 14 | 5 | 38 |
| 6 | Albirex Niigata | 24 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 35 | 27 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 19 | 16 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 11 | 8 | 37 |
| 7 | Ventforet Kofu | 24 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 32 | 27 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 16 | 17 | 5 | 36 |
| 8 | Tokyo Verdy | 24 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 29 | 23 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 10 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 13 | 6 | 35 |
| 9 | Zweigen Kanazawa | 24 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 34 | 32 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 19 | 2 | 34 |
| 10 | Tochigi | 24 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 22 | 22 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 33 |
| 11 | Omiya Ardija | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 24 | 30 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 18 | -6 | 32 |
| 12 | Mito Hollyhock | 24 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 38 | 35 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 22 | 21 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 14 | 3 | 31 |
| 13 | Júbilo Iwata | 24 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 33 | 30 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 22 | 15 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 3 | 30 |
| 14 | JEF United | 24 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 28 | 27 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 30 |
| 15 | Machida Zelvia | 24 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 24 | 28 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 18 | -4 | 30 |
| 16 | Montedio Yamagata | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 26 | 26 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 15 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 29 |
| 17 | Fagiano Okayama | 24 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 20 | 24 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 10 | -4 | 28 |
| 18 | Ryūkyū | 24 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 33 | 40 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 19 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 16 | 21 | -7 | 24 |
| 19 | Renofa Yamaguchi | 24 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 26 | 39 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 16 | 17 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 22 | -13 | 23 |
| 20 | Matsumoto Yamaga | 24 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 24 | 38 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 17 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 21 | -14 | 23 |
| 21 | Ehime | 24 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 22 | 29 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 13 | -7 | 22 |
| 22 | ThespaKusatsu Gunma | 24 | 7 | 1 | 16 | 20 | 43 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 25 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 18 | -23 | 22 |