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.
It's no vacation for neither Vegalta Sendai nor Cerezo Osaka as both were in action only a few days ago. Expect some tired legs on the pitch and/or possibly some changes to the lineups.
These teams have little in common geographically as Cerezo Osaka have to travel 800 kilometers to reach their opponents. The trip home will be especially long if the match ends in defeat.
Vegalta Sendai form and stats
Last season, Vegalta Sendai's Ybc Levain Cup journey ended in the play-offs.0-1-0 (win-draw-lost) are the J-League numbers at home for Vegalta Sendai so far this season.
A draw after 90 minutes last time out for Vegalta Sendai, who played 1-1 against Nagoya Grampus. That match was also played at this venue (Yurtec Stadium Sendai). Prior to that, an away loss at Urawa Reds in the Ybc Levain Cup.
There's a new game coming up fairly quickly for Vegalta Sendai as they are travelling to their away game against Gamba Osaka in the J-League. That match is four days after this one.
Early season league goal statistics from Vegalta Sendai's 1 home game: 1 goal, 1 conceded.
Cerezo Osaka form and stats
They also participated in Ybc Levain Cup last season. This ended in the play-offs.Cerezo Osaka have succeeded in guarding their own goal lately, led by their goalkeeper Joon-Soo Ahn. It's been 252 minutes since they last conceded in J-League.
Bruno Mendes scored in Cerezo Osaka's previous match, the home game against Oita Trinita that ended 1-0. Prior to that match, a home win 4-1 against Matsumoto Yamaga in the Ybc Levain Cup.
There might be some complaints about the fixture list from the Cerezo Osaka manager M. Lotina Oruecheberría as the team has another away game coming up in only three days, this time against Sagan Tosu.
Head 2 Head
As for the last ten games between these two teams, there's two Vegalta Sendai victories, five draws and three Cerezo Osaka wins. Over/under statistics; five of these games ended with three goals or more, five matches with two goals or less.Top Goalscorers
  S. Nagasawa 7 goals |   H. Okuno 7 goals |
Vegalta Sendai missing players
Cerezo Osaka missing players
| Vegalta Sendai | Cerezo Osaka | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 10 | 25 | ||
| 8 | 6 | Won | W | 6 | 16 | ||
| 6 | 4 | Drew | D | 1 | 4 | ||
| 11 | 3 | Lost | L | 3 | 5 | ||
| 30 | 20 | Scored | S | 14 | 41 | ||
| 34 | 16 | Conceded | C | 11 | 21 | ||
| 96% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 96% | ||
| 76% | 85% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 80% | 76% | ||
| 40% | 46% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 40% | 48% | ||
| 24% | 31% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 10% | 16% | ||
| 12% | 15% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 10% | 8% | ||
| 52% | 62% | BTTS | BTTS | 40% | 48% | ||
| 20% | 23% | Clean Sheets | C S | 40% | 40% | ||
| 32% | 15% | Failed to Score | F T | 20% | 16% | ||
| 5.4 | 5.6 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4.1 | 5.7 | ||
| 6 | 6.7 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 7.2 | 6.2 | ||
| 1 | 0.8 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1 | 0.9 | ||
| 1 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | ||
| 256 | 148 | Total Shots | T S | 104 | 290 | ||
| 87 | 53 | Shots on Target | S O | 45 | 126 | ||
| 30% | 32% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 31% | 33% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Urawa Reds | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | Cerezo Osaka | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | Vegalta Sendai | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | -3 | 0 |
| 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 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | Kashiwa Reysol | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | Tokyo | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | Urawa Reds | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | Gamba Osaka | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | Cerezo Osaka | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | Nagoya Grampus | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Vegalta Sendai | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Vissel Kobe | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Yokohama | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Kawasaki Frontale | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Sagan Tosu | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Shonan Bellmare | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| 14 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| 15 | Oita Trinita | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 16 | Consadole Sapporo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 0 |
| 17 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 |
| 18 | Kashima Antlers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 |