Kawasaki Frontale will host Shandong Taishan at the Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium on Tuesday in the second leg of their 2023-24 AFC Champions League quarterfinal clash.
The home side are gearing up for the new J League campaign but will also hope they can extend their run on the continental stage this week. They beat Vissel Kobe 1-0 in the Japanese Super Cup on Saturday, with new signing Sai Van Wermeskerken scoring the game-winner early after the restart.
Shandong Taishan are also in the off-season with their focus solely on continental football at the moment. They performed well in the group stages of the Champions League last year, winning three of their final four matches to advance to the last 16 of the tournament for the first time since 2021.
Kawasaki Frontale picked up a 3-2 win in their first-leg clash last week, heading into the break two goals up following strikes from Erison and Marcinho. The Taishan Dui got significantly better after the restart, with Fernandinho and Jadson getting on the scoresheet, but they ultimately fell short.
Kawasaki Frontale vs Shandong Taishan Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Tuesday's game will mark just the second meeting between Kawasaki and Shandong.
- The visitors have lost their last five competitive games against Japanese opposition by an aggregate scoreline of 17-2.
- The hosts, meanwhile, have won their last five competitive games against Chinese opposition by an aggregate scoreline of 23-2.
- Shandong are without a clean sheet in their last seven games across all competitions.
- Only five of Frontale's 12 league defeats last season came on home turf.
- The Azzuro Nero are the highest-scoring side in the AFC Champions League so far this season with a goal tally of 20.
Kawasaki Frontale vs Shandong Taishan Prediction
Kawasaki are on a run of back-to-back victories and are undefeated in their last 14 competitive outings. They have won all but one of their last eight home games and will fancy their chances of a positive result here.
Shandong, meanwhile, have lost their last two matches and three of their last four. The hosts are in much better form ahead of Tuesday's game and should come out on top this week.
Prediction: Kawasaki Frontale 2-1 Shandong Taishan
Kawasaki Frontale vs Shandong Taishan Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Kawasaki to win
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Over 2.5 goals (Five of the visitors' last six matches have produced more than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: YES (Both sides have found the back of the net in three of the hosts' last four matches)