National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Vissel Kobe or Kawasaki Frontale that keep their silverware dream alive.
It's no vacation for neither Vissel nor Kawasaki Frontale 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.
Vissel Kobe form and stats
Last season, Vissel Kobe's Ybc Levain Cup journey ended in the group stage.Vissel Kobe's results here at NOEVIR Stadium Kobe in the J-League have been very modest with 1 victory, 3 draws and 4 defeats. Two draws in a row at home now for Vissel.
The spoils were shared in Vissel's previous game, also at home. Visiting Yokohama F. Marinos travelled back with a draw after a 3-3 scoreline. The spoils were shared after 90 minutes before that, a J-League home game that ended 2-2 versus Kawasaki Frontale.
There was plenty of action in the dying minutes of the game against Yokohama F. Marinos as K. Furuhashi's goal in the 90th minute completed a cancellation of 1-3 and secured a draw after 90 minutes. As you can tell by the result above, the goals flowed freely in the previous game and the stadium rocked. Could there be another goal fest today? The hometeam coach T. Fink made a successful contribution in the game against Yokohama F. Marinos, bringing on K. Furuhashi who scored the equalizer in the 3-3 draw.
Vissel are traveling soon after this match as the J-League match at Shonan Bellmare awaits in three days.
The Vissel fans have had their share of opportunities to cheer home goals this season, having seen 12 goals in 8 league matches. Vissel are struggling defensively, conceding on average more than two goals per home game (17 from 8 played).
Kawasaki Frontale form and stats
Nothing but glory last season for Kawasaki Frontale, as they won the Ybc Levain Cup.Kawasaki Frontale's travelling support has been rewarded for their time and money so far this season, having witnessed Kawasaki Frontale collect 16 points from their 7 away matches in the J-League. 5 victories and 1 draw have created these points (and only 1 defeat). When we have look at the Ybc Levain Cup statistics, we find 2W-1D-0L. This is both home and away.
Kawasaki won their last game, 5-0 versus Shimizu S-Pulse played at home. A 2-2 draw at Vissel Kobe's stadium before that.
As mentioned above, Kawasaki was the only team on the pitch versus Shimizu S-Pulse in their previous game, winning 5-0. This could be a tougher task.
The schedule is very tough for Kawasaki now as they have to travel again shortly after this match. A J-League game at Yokohama F. Marinos is waiting in only three days.
The prediction for this game is lots of goals as Kawasaki alone have scored more than three on average in their league games away (21 from 7 played). Kawasaki have conceded 7 goals in these away matches.
Head 2 Head
Head-2-head stats last ten meetings: three - two - five (Vissel wins - draws - Kawasaki Frontale wins). As for goals, nine matches ended with three or more goals (over 2,5), one had two or less.Top Goalscorers
  L. da Silva dos Santos 7 goals |  Y. Kobayashi 7 goals |  D. Chagas Matos 5 goals |
Vissel Kobe missing players
Kawasaki Frontale missing players
| Vissel Kobe | Kawasaki Frontale | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 16 | Played | P | 14 | 25 | ||
| 13 | 8 | Won | W | 9 | 18 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Drew | D | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 5 | Lost | L | 1 | 2 | ||
| 44 | 31 | Scored | S | 37 | 73 | ||
| 33 | 23 | Conceded | C | 17 | 29 | ||
| 96% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 96% | ||
| 80% | 88% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 86% | 88% | ||
| 60% | 62% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 71% | 76% | ||
| 44% | 50% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 64% | 64% | ||
| 20% | 25% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 36% | 40% | ||
| 60% | 62% | BTTS | BTTS | 64% | 68% | ||
| 28% | 25% | Clean Sheets | C S | 29% | 28% | ||
| 16% | 12% | Failed to Score | F T | 7% | 8% | ||
| 5.2 | 5.7 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4.4 | 5.2 | ||
| 3.1 | 2.5 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.3 | 4.5 | ||
| 0.9 | 1 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 0.9 | 0.9 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 2 | 2 | ||
| 301 | 209 | Total Shots | T S | 193 | 368 | ||
| 119 | 84 | Shots on Target | S O | 84 | 155 | ||
| 32% | 33% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 44% | 42% | ||
| 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 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 41 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 7 | 29 | 35 |
| 2 | Tokyo | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 18 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 25 |
| 3 | Nagoya Grampus | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 11 | 24 |
| 4 | Cerezo Osaka | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 24 |
| 5 | Urawa Reds | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 12 | -2 | 23 |
| 6 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 28 | 24 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 4 | 21 |
| 7 | Kashiwa Reysol | 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 26 | 21 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 20 |
| 8 | Gamba Osaka | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 20 |
| 9 | Kashima Antlers | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 21 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 18 |
| 10 | Vissel Kobe | 14 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 21 | 23 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 6 | -2 | 18 |
| 11 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 16 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| 12 | Consadole Sapporo | 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 26 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 14 | -8 | 14 |
| 13 | Yokohama | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 16 | 24 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -8 | 14 |
| 14 | Oita Trinita | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 21 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 13 | -9 | 12 |
| 15 | Vegalta Sendai | 12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 19 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 10 | -6 | 11 |
| 16 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 13 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 18 | 29 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 15 | 17 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | -11 | 9 |
| 17 | Sagan Tosu | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | -5 | 7 |
| 18 | Shonan Bellmare | 12 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 17 | -13 | 4 |