Consadole Sapporo and Yokohama F. Marinos lock horns at the Sapporo Dome Stadium on Sunday for a place in the first leg of the J-League Cup quarter-finals.
The hosts head into this tie off the back of a 2-1 league win over Kashiwa Reysol, while the visitors claimed a 2-1 win over Shimizu S-Pulse last Sunday.
With 11 points from six games, Consadole Sapporo progressed from Group A as runners-up after finishing behind first-placed Kashima Antlers.
However, they have struggled for results in the domestic league. The hosts have picked up six wins and four draws from 16 games and are seated in 11th place.
Yokohama F. Marinos, on the other hand, have enjoyed a superb run so far in the cup competition.
They finished unbeaten in the group stages, claiming four wins and two draws from six games.
That fine run of results helped Tetsuya Enomoto's men finish at the top of Group D, six points ahead of second-placed Shimizu S-Pulse.
Yokohama F. Marinos have also been impressive in the J1 League. They have picked up 10 wins and four draws from 16 games so far.
They are firmly in the face for a place in the AFC Champions League as they occupy third place in the J1 League table.
Consadole Sapporo vs Yokohama F. Marinos Head-To-Head
With 25 wins from 36 meetings, Yokohama F. Marinos are clearly the superior side in this fixture. The hosts have picked up only five wins, while six games have ended in draws. Their last encounter came back in April, when Yokohama F. Marinos cruised to a comfortable 3-1 win.
Consadole Sapporo Form Guide (all competitions): W-D-W-D-L
Yokohama F. Marinos Form Guide (all competitions): W-W-D-W-L
Consadole Sapporo and Yokohama F. Marinos Team News
Consadole Sapporo
Thailand international Chanathip Songkrasin has been ruled out for another one week after he sustained an injury on May 2 in the league game against Shonan Bellmare.
Injured: Chanathip Songkrasin
Suspended: None
Yokohama F. Marinos
The visitors have no injury or suspension concerns heading into this game. After coming off the bench to create the winning goal last time out, midfielder Kota Mizunuma could be rewarded with a place in the starting XI.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Consadole Sapporo and Yokohama F. Marinos Predicted XI
Consadole Sapporo Predicted XI (3-4-3): Takanori Sugeno; Daihachi Okamura, Shunta Tanaka, Akito Fukumori; Lucas Fernandes, Takuma Arano, Tomoki Takamine, Ryota Aoki; Tsuyoshi Ogashiwa, Yoshiaki Komai, Jay Bothroyd
Yokohama F. Marinos Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Yohai Takaoka; Theerathorn Bunmathan, Shinnosuke Hatanaka, Thiago Martins, Ryuta Koike; Kota Watanabe, Tomoki Iwata; Marcos Junior; Jose Elber, Kota Mizunuma; Ado Onaiwu
Consadole Sapporo and Yokohama F. Marinos Prediction
Both sides head into this game on the back of a four-game unbeaten run and will be aiming to maintain this decent run. However, Yokohama F. Marinos have been the better side for most of the campaign and we predict they will claim the win and progress into the next round.
Prediction: Consadole Sapporo 1-2 Yokohama F. Marinos
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