National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Sanfrecce Hiroshima or Vegalta Sendai 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 Sanfrecce and Vegalta Sendai.
These teams have little in common geographically as Vegalta Sendai have to travel 1100 kilometers to reach their opponents. The trip home will be especially long if the match ends in defeat.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima form and stats
Sanfrecce participated in Ybc Levain Cup the last season, where they reached the group stage.2 victories, 2 draws and 1 defeat. That’s what Sanfrecce Hiroshima have to build on here at EDION Stadium in the J-League.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima haven't scored a league goal since they found the net 230 minutes ago. K. Shibasaki scored that one.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima travelled for their previous game, a trip to Kawasaki Frontale that ended 1-1. Prior to that, an away loss at Nagoya Grampus in the J-League.
There's a new fixture coming up fairly quickly for Sanfrecce Hiroshima, as the J-League home game vs Avispa Fukuoka is only three days away.
The goals haven't exactly been flowing for Sanfrecce here at EDION Stadium in the league, with less than one goal per game on average (4 from 5 games). Sanfrecce have only conceded 3 from their league home games. For more goal stats, check the Statistics tab above.
Vegalta Sendai form and stats
Vegalta's mission in Ybc Levain Cup last season failed in the group stage.There's been little loot from Vegalta Sendai's travels as they have only collected 2 points from 6 away games in the J-League. Vegalta Sendai only have 0 wins to counter their 4 defeats and 2 draws. Vegalta are desperate to end a ten-game winless run, as they haven't won a game since the Shimizu S-Pulse fixture.
Vegalta Sendai has to pack their bags again for the second away game in a row. Last time they traveled to Yokohama for a J-League game that ended a draw (2-2). Preceding that match was the 0-0 draw at home vs Yokohama F. Marinos.
The match against Yokohama looked like a defeat for Vegalta, but they did not accept the outcome and clawed their way back to 2-2. Kyohei Yoshino equalized in the 90th minute.
The visitors will be packing their bags again in only three days as another away game awaits: The J-League trip to Consadole Sapporo.
The visitors have scored 5 goals from 6 away games in the league, an average of less than one per game. For Vegalta, more than two goals on average per game end up in their own net.
Head 2 Head
Head-to-head totals (for the last ten meetings): Sanfrecce won three games, four matches ended with a draw and Vegalta Sendai has three wins. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: three / sevenTop Goalscorers
  Y. Asano 3 goals | K. Shibasaki 2 goals |  J. dos Santos Junior 2 goals |
Sanfrecce Hiroshima missing players
Vegalta Sendai missing players
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Vegalta Sendai | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 12 | Played | P | 13 | 25 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Won | W | 4 | 4 | ||
| 11 | 6 | Drew | D | 2 | 7 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Lost | L | 7 | 14 | ||
| 26 | 13 | Scored | S | 15 | 21 | ||
| 25 | 9 | Conceded | C | 24 | 45 | ||
| 88% | 83% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 84% | ||
| 56% | 58% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 69% | 64% | ||
| 28% | 25% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 54% | 48% | ||
| 20% | 17% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 46% | 40% | ||
| 8% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 23% | 20% | ||
| 44% | 50% | BTTS | BTTS | 38% | 36% | ||
| 28% | 33% | Clean Sheets | C S | 23% | 28% | ||
| 40% | 33% | Failed to Score | F T | 38% | 52% | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0.4 | 0.4 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.2 | 1.3 | ||
| 1 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 11.3 | 11.6 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 10.5 | 8.7 | ||
| 4 | 3.9 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.5 | 2.8 | ||
| 26% | 28% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 33% | 30% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| 2 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -5 | 1 |
| 4 | Vegalta Sendai | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Kawasaki Frontale | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 4 | 22 | 31 |
| 2 | Nagoya Grampus | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 26 |
| 3 | Vissel Kobe | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 19 |
| 4 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 18 |
| 5 | Sagan Tosu | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 17 |
| 6 | Cerezo Osaka | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 17 |
| 7 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 16 |
| 8 | Tokyo | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| 9 | Tokushima Vortis | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 14 |
| 10 | Urawa Reds | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | -4 | 14 |
| 11 | Avispa Fukuoka | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 8 | -3 | 13 |
| 12 | Kashima Antlers | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 11 |
| 13 | Shonan Bellmare | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -2 | 10 |
| 14 | Kashiwa Reysol | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | -5 | 10 |
| 15 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | -4 | 9 |
| 16 | Consadole Sapporo | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | -1 | 8 |
| 17 | Gamba Osaka | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 5 |
| 18 | Oita Trinita | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | -9 | 5 |
| 19 | Vegalta Sendai | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 14 | -15 | 3 |
| 20 | Yokohama | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 15 | -20 | 2 |