The league table in J2-League tells a story about these teams so far, with Ventforet Kofu leading Ryūkyū by 13 points. Match preview to follow:
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 Ventforet and Ryūkyū.
It's time to recharge all electronic entertainment devices for Ryūkyū, who are travelling more than 2000 kilometers to play this game.
Ventforet Kofu form and stats
Overall J2-League stats at home this season for Ventforet Kofu are 8-5-2 (wins-draw-losses). Hopes of three in a row are alive for Ventforet Kofu after consecutive victories at their own ground.
Ventforet shared the glory with Tochigi in their last match, an away game that ended all square 0-0. Previous to that game, a home match hosting Machida Zelvia in a game that was won 2-1.
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 Ventforet have performed under similar circumstances, so here are some numbers: When modest favourites like this (we found ten games) they have won six times, drawn two and lost two.
There's a new game coming up fairly quickly for Ventforet Kofu as they are travelling to their away game against Omiya Ardija in the J2-League. That match is four days after this one.
Ventforet are certainly not overdoing their scoring at home in league matches, having created 21 goals in 15 games. Ventforet Kofu have conceded 15 in these home matches.
Ryūkyū form and stats
5 wins, 2 draws and 9 losses. That’s the product of Ryūkyū, who have the fewest clean sheets (5) in J2-League, playing as the away team in the J2-League this season.
It's the second away game in a row for Ryūkyū, but there's smiles all around after the 3-0 victory versus Omiya Ardija (placed 16th) in the J2-League last time out. Before that, Ryūkyū secured a home win against Kyoto Sanga with the score 2-1.
It was a convincing performance from Ryūkyū when Omiya Ardija were beaten. The team "killed" the match in the first half leading 3-0 and the second half was comfortable. M. Uehara and T. Abe (2) scored their goals.
Ryūkyū are the outsiders in this one, but not by much. Their performance in similar games (being the away team and moderate outsiders) is six wins, one draw and six defeats. From a total of 13 matches.
A quick return to home after this game, as Ryūkyū are hosting Renofa Yamaguchi in the J2-League only four days away.
Ryūkyū have a decent goal production going in their away games, although not fantastic. In 16 league away games 20 goals have been scored. As for defending, Ryūkyū rarely keep clean sheets as they have conceded 28 goals from these away matches.
Head 2 Head
Ventforet Kofu and Ryūkyū have met before this season: Ryūkyū - Ventforet 1-2. Head-to-head totals (for the last three meetings): Ventforet won three games, zero matches ended with a draw and Ryūkyū has zero wins. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: two / oneTop Goalscorers
  T. Abe 13 goals |   L. dos Santos Gonzaga 7 goals |  K. Kazama 7 goals |
Ventforet Kofu missing players
Ryūkyū missing players
| Ventforet Kofu | Ryūkyū | ||||||
| Total | Home | vs | Statistics | Stat | vs | Away | Total |
| 30 | 15 | 6 | Played | P | 3 | 16 | 30 |
| 11 | 8 | 5 | Won | W | 0 | 5 | 9 |
| 13 | 5 | 1 | Drew | D | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 6 | 2 | 0 | Lost | L | 2 | 9 | 15 |
| 38 | 21 | 10 | Scored | S | 1 | 20 | 41 |
| 33 | 15 | 5 | Conceded | C | 6 | 28 | 49 |
| 83% | 87% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 67% | 67% | 67% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 67% | 69% | 73% |
| 43% | 40% | 50% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 33% | 56% | 57% |
| 23% | 20% | 17% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 33% | 31% | 37% |
| 13% | 20% | 17% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 25% | 23% |
| 57% | 53% | 67% | BTTS | BTTS | 33% | 50% | 57% |
| 33% | 33% | 33% | Clean Sheets | C S | 0% | 19% | 17% |
| 27% | 27% | 0% | Failed to Score | F T | 67% | 31% | 27% |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.7 | 1.3 | 1 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 239 | 135 | 51 | Total Shots | T S | 25 | 171 | 308 |
| 104 | 64 | 23 | Shots on Target | S O | 9 | 59 | 114 |
| 33% | 33% | 43% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 11% | 34% | 36% |
- Ryūkyū has the fewest clean sheets (5) in J2-League
- Ryūkyū 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 | 30 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 47 | 23 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 20 | 9 | 15 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 27 | 14 | 24 | 59 |
| 2 | Avispa Fukuoka | 30 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 35 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 11 | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 11 | 13 | 59 |
| 3 | V-Varen Nagasaki | 30 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 44 | 31 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 10 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 23 | 21 | 13 | 54 |
| 4 | Giravanz Kitakyushu | 30 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 43 | 33 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 15 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 23 | 18 | 10 | 50 |
| 5 | Albirex Niigata | 30 | 11 | 13 | 6 | 44 | 34 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 23 | 21 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 21 | 13 | 10 | 46 |
| 6 | Ventforet Kofu | 30 | 11 | 13 | 6 | 38 | 33 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 21 | 15 | 15 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 17 | 18 | 5 | 46 |
| 7 | Jubilo Iwata | 30 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 40 | 32 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 28 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 15 | 8 | 44 |
| 8 | Kyoto Sanga | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 36 | 33 | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 24 | 14 | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 3 | 44 |
| 9 | Montedio Yamagata | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 39 | 31 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 24 | 16 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 8 | 42 |
| 10 | Tochigi | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 27 | 24 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 11 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 13 | 3 | 42 |
| 11 | Tokyo Verdy | 30 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 35 | 31 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 16 | 11 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 19 | 20 | 4 | 41 |
| 12 | Fagiano Okayama | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 29 | 30 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 19 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 11 | -1 | 40 |
| 13 | Mito Hollyhock | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 52 | 47 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 24 | 25 | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 28 | 22 | 5 | 39 |
| 14 | Zweigen Kanazawa | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 41 | 43 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 19 | 20 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 22 | 23 | -2 | 39 |
| 15 | Machida Zelvia | 30 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 31 | 34 | 16 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 19 | 14 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 20 | -3 | 36 |
| 16 | Omiya Ardija | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 27 | 37 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 22 | -10 | 36 |
| 17 | JEF United | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 33 | 36 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 16 | 21 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 17 | 15 | -3 | 35 |
| 18 | Ryūkyū | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 41 | 49 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 21 | 21 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 20 | 28 | -8 | 33 |
| 19 | Matsumoto Yamaga | 30 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 30 | 44 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 21 | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 23 | -14 | 32 |
| 20 | ThespaKusatsu Gunma | 30 | 9 | 2 | 19 | 25 | 50 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 29 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 13 | 21 | -25 | 29 |
| 21 | Renofa Yamaguchi | 30 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 34 | 56 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 17 | 24 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 17 | 32 | -22 | 26 |
| 22 | Ehime | 30 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 27 | 45 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 25 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 20 | -18 | 25 |