National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Vegalta Sendai or Cerezo Osaka that keep their silverware dream alive.
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.
It's quite the trip for Cerezo Osaka when visiting Vegalta as the cities are 800 kilometers apart.
Vegalta Sendai form and stats
Vegalta Sendai was eliminated in the play-offs last season in the Ybc Levain Cup.Vegalta Sendai have played 5 J-League games at their own stadium so far this season, resulting in 0-2-3 (wins-draws-losses). Two defeats in a row at home hurts for Vegalta, their manager T. Kiyama and the supporters. There are certain expectations for improvement.
It's back home for Vegalta, who return with a good feeling about themselves after beating Vissel Kobe away with the result 2-1. S. Akasaki found the net in that victory. Ahead of that match, Vegalta Sendai lost 0-1 at home to Yokohama F. Marinos.
The victory against Vissel Kobe came after S. Akasaki's winning goal. The Vegalta manager T. Kiyama was very happy afterwards with the decision to bring on that player in the 71st minute.
The match schedule is unforgiving for Vegalta Sendai as they have a new game in only three days, a J-League match thankfully also at home. Shimizu S-Pulse are visiting.
Vegalta Sendai are certainly not overdoing their scoring at home in league matches, having created 6 goals in 5 games. Vegalta have conceded 9 from these games.
Cerezo Osaka form and stats
Cerezo Osaka's mission in Ybc Levain Cup last season failed in the play-offs.The story so far for the visiting team on their J-League travels is 3 wins, 1 draw and 0 defeats.
Cerezo have succeeded in guarding their own goal lately, led by their goalkeeper Jin-Hyeon Kim. It's been 219 minutes since they last conceded in J-League.
Cerezo's last game ended in a draw, the home match versus Tokyo that finished 0-0. Before that, Cerezo secured a home win against Urawa Reds with the score 1-0.
The visitors will be packing their bags again in only three days as another away game awaits: The J-League trip to Kashiwa Reysol.
The travelling fans enjoy Cerezo's attacking play in away games, having scored 6 goals in 4 league matches away. Cerezo Osaka are defending well in their away games, having conceded only 3 times in 4 matches. For more goal statistics, check out the Statistics tab above.
Head 2 Head
Vegalta Sendai-Cerezo Osaka H2H statistics last ten meetings regardless of arena: Vegalta two wins, Cerezo Osaka three wins, five draws. five of these ten matches had three or more goals (over 2,5).Top Goalscorers
  S. Nagasawa 7 goals |
Vegalta Sendai missing players
Cerezo Osaka missing players
| Vegalta Sendai | Cerezo Osaka | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 12 | Played | P | 11 | 25 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Won | W | 8 | 17 | ||
| 7 | 5 | Drew | D | 1 | 4 | ||
| 12 | 5 | Lost | L | 2 | 4 | ||
| 31 | 16 | Scored | S | 17 | 37 | ||
| 40 | 17 | Conceded | C | 10 | 18 | ||
| 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 92% | ||
| 84% | 83% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 73% | 64% | ||
| 44% | 42% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 45% | 40% | ||
| 28% | 33% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 9% | 12% | ||
| 16% | 17% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 9% | 8% | ||
| 64% | 67% | BTTS | BTTS | 55% | 44% | ||
| 16% | 17% | Clean Sheets | C S | 36% | 44% | ||
| 20% | 17% | Failed to Score | F T | 9% | 20% | ||
| 5.4 | 5.7 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4.1 | 4.9 | ||
| 6 | 7.4 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 7.3 | 6.1 | ||
| 0.8 | 0.7 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.1 | 0.9 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | ||
| 247 | 143 | Total Shots | T S | 97 | 214 | ||
| 85 | 49 | Shots on Target | S O | 44 | 90 | ||
| 33% | 29% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 34% | 36% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Cerezo Osaka | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | Urawa Reds | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | Vegalta Sendai | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | -3 | 3 |
| 4 | Matsumoto Yamaga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 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 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 17 | 25 |
| 2 | Gamba Osaka | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 19 |
| 3 | Cerezo Osaka | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 18 |
| 4 | Nagoya Grampus | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 17 |
| 5 | Kashiwa Reysol | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 16 |
| 6 | Tokyo | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 15 |
| 7 | Urawa Reds | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 11 | -5 | 14 |
| 8 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 13 |
| 9 | Consadole Sapporo | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 12 |
| 10 | Vissel Kobe | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | -2 | 12 |
| 11 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | -1 | 11 |
| 12 | Kashima Antlers | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 8 | -1 | 10 |
| 13 | Vegalta Sendai | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | -5 | 9 |
| 14 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 8 |
| 15 | Sagan Tosu | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | -5 | 7 |
| 16 | Oita Trinita | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 10 | -9 | 7 |
| 17 | Yokohama | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | -12 | 5 |
| 18 | Shonan Bellmare | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 10 | -7 | 4 |