Urawa Red Diamonds will travel to Singapore to take on the Lion City Sailors in AFC Champions League action on Friday.
It will be the opening round of fixtures for both the teams in Group F.
This will be a welcome break for Urawa after the club struggled to maintain any form in the J1 League so far this season.
Their rivals are currently topping the Singaporean Premier Division table with just one defeat in their opening seven matches.
Lion City Sailors vs Urawa Red Diamonds Head-to-Head
It will be the first-ever outing against each other for these two Asian outfits in any competition.
While the domestic record overwhelmingly favors the home team, it will be a big challenge for them to upstage the veterans of the competition in Urawa.
Lion City Sailors form guide: W-W-W-D-W
Urawa Red Diamonds form guide: D-D-D-L-W
Lion City Sailors vs Urawa Red Diamonds Team News
Lion City Sailors
Song Ui-Young was substituted against the Young Lions after taking a hit from rival midfielder Ridhiwan Fikri.
Tajeli Salamat is another fitness concern for the club ahead of the tie.
Injury: Song Ui-Young
Doubtful: Tajeli Salamat
Suspension: None
Urawa Red DIamonds
Urawa do not have any injury concerns or suspensions going into this fixture.
Injury: None
Doubtful: None
Suspension: None
Lion City Sailors vs Urawa Red Diamonds Predicted XI
Lion City Sailors Predicted XI (4-3-3): Izwan Mahbud, Pedro Henrique, Nur Adam Abdullah, Hami Syahi, Aizal Murhamdani, Faris Ramli, Haiqal Pashia, Gabriel Quak, Hafiz Noor, Shin wook-kim, Diego Lopes
Urawa Red Diamonds Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Shushaku Nishikawa, Takuya Iwanami, Alexander Scholz, Kazuaki Mawatari, Yuta Miyamoto; Atsuki Ito, Kai Shibato; Yoshio Koizumi, Takahiro Sekine, Kai Matsuzaki; Ataru Esaka
$1,100 First Bet Insurance at Caesars
Lion City Sailors vs Urawa Red Diamonds Prediction
This looks to be a mismatch of epic proportions, with Urawa entering the tie as the overwhelming favorites to pick up the win. Despite struggling in Japan, Urawa will look to utilize this tie to gain some momentum back into their domestic campaign.
For the hosts, things will be quite different from what they have witnessed so far in Singapore. It would be nothing less than a miracle if they end the game with a point in hand.
Nonetheless, a victory for the Urawa Reds is on the cards.
Prediction: Lion City Sailors 1-3 Urawa Red Diamonds