Shimizu S-Pulse get ready to welcome Kashima Antlers for something different than the ordinary league football: The Ybc Levain Cup Play-offs leg 1 of 2.
There’s little time for restitution or working hard at the training pitch these days, with both teams having played their last game less than four days ago.
Shimizu S-Pulse form and stats
Shimizu have not come this way in the Ybc Levain Cup without some hard work on the way, more precisely defeating Vegalta Sendai, Yokohama F. Marinos and Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Last season their Ybc Levain Cup adventure ended in the group stage.Shimizu S-Pulse's results here at IAI Stadium Nihondaira in the J-League have been very modest with 1 victory, 4 draws and 3 defeats. 2W-2D-2L is the hard facts regardless of venue in the Ybc Levain Cup for Shimizu S-Pulse.
The fans are hoping that Shimizu will strike back in this match, putting things right after the 1-2 away loss in the J-League game against Yokohama F. Marinos. Defender Naoya Fukumori got the top score of the team in the match with a rating of 7.35/10. Fukumori won 1 of 3 duels.
Ahead of that match, Shimizu won a home game hosting Tokyo (3-0).Shimizu S-Pulse are traveling soon after this match as the Ybc Levain Cup match at Kashima Antlers awaits in four days.
Shimizu have scored 7 league goals here from 8 matches, not a lot. It's worth mentioning that 5 of these goals has been scored in their last three home matches. Defensively it’s touch-and-go for the home team as 12 goals have been conceded.
Kashima Antlers form and stats
The traveling awayteam has defeated Sagan Tosu, Avispa Fukuoka and Consadole Sapporo in order to reach play-offs of Ybc Levain Cup. Kashima was sent out of Ybc Levain Cup in the group stage last season.3-1-4 is the win-draw-loss statistic for Kashima Antlers in their J-League matches away. Total Ybc Levain Cup statistics for Kashima Antlers: 3 wins, 3 draws and 0 losses. With two straight losses from their last two away games, Kashima Antlers are hoping that it's time for some travel points again.
Kashima play their second straight away game, having lost the previous one 1-2 to Kawasaki Frontale. Keigo Tsunemoto, who plays in defense, got the "man of the match" on his team with the rating 7.44. Tsunemoto won 11 of 15 duels. Late heartbreak for Kashima in the Kawasaki Frontale match, as the deciding 1-2 goal came deep into overtime.
Before that, Kashima Antlers secured a home win against Cerezo Osaka with the score 1-0.The visitors are returning home after this fixture, hosting Shimizu S-Pulse in just four days.
Scoring goals is the main ingredient in creating success in football, and not only at home. So far Kashima have scored 11 goals in 8 league games away. It's worth mentioning that 7 of these goals has been scored in their last three away matches. Kashima have conceded 9 goals in these away matches.
Head 2 Head
Numbers for the last ten meetings between these two teams are: one win for Shimizu, one draw and eight wins for Kashima Antlers. Over 2,5 goals: six times; under 2,5 goals: four games.Top Goalscorers
  T. Santos Santana 6 goals |   R. Araki 6 goals |  A. Ueda 6 goals |
Shimizu S-Pulse missing players
Kashima Antlers missing players
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Kashima Antlers | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 12 | Played | P | 11 | 25 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Won | W | 4 | 12 | ||
| 8 | 5 | Drew | D | 3 | 7 | ||
| 11 | 5 | Lost | L | 4 | 6 | ||
| 26 | 14 | Scored | S | 18 | 45 | ||
| 34 | 18 | Conceded | C | 12 | 25 | ||
| 84% | 83% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 91% | 96% | ||
| 72% | 83% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 73% | 80% | ||
| 48% | 58% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 64% | 56% | ||
| 20% | 25% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 27% | 24% | ||
| 12% | 17% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 9% | 8% | ||
| 48% | 50% | BTTS | BTTS | 55% | 56% | ||
| 28% | 25% | Clean Sheets | C S | 36% | 36% | ||
| 40% | 42% | Failed to Score | F T | 18% | 12% | ||
| 3.5 | 3.8 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 5.5 | 6.2 | ||
| 6.1 | 5.2 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.1 | 3.8 | ||
| 0.5 | 0.7 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1 | 1.2 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 3 | ||
| 8.6 | 9.4 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 10.7 | 12 | ||
| 3.2 | 3.4 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 4.8 | 5.1 | ||
| 32% | 34% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 34% | 35% | ||
| 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 | 20 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 49 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 5 | 34 | 52 |
| 2 | Nagoya Grampus | 20 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 22 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 37 |
| 3 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 32 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 9 | 17 | 34 |
| 4 | Sagan Tosu | 18 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 23 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 33 |
| 5 | Avispa Fukuoka | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 22 | 20 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 29 |
| 6 | Vissel Kobe | 17 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 22 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 12 | 5 | 28 |
| 7 | Urawa Reds | 17 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 20 | 19 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 28 |
| 8 | Kashima Antlers | 17 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 28 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 27 |
| 9 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 19 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 22 | 20 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 12 | 2 | 26 |
| 10 | Cerezo Osaka | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 23 |
| 11 | Consadole Sapporo | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 23 | 21 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 22 |
| 12 | Tokyo | 17 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 22 | 27 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -5 | 22 |
| 13 | Tokushima Vortis | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 16 | 23 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 15 | -7 | 19 |
| 14 | Shonan Bellmare | 17 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 15 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 15 | -3 | 17 |
| 15 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 17 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 11 | -8 | 15 |
| 16 | Kashiwa Reysol | 17 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 15 | 24 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 11 | -9 | 14 |
| 17 | Vegalta Sendai | 17 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 30 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 20 | -16 | 14 |
| 18 | Gamba Osaka | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 6 | -7 | 13 |
| 19 | Oita Trinita | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 24 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 12 | -12 | 12 |
| 20 | Yokohama | 17 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 42 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 26 | -30 | 7 |