Nagoya Grampus lock horns with Avispa Fukuoka at the Toyota Stadium in their midweek J1 League fixture on Wednesday.
The hosts have made it three wins in a row across all competitions as they secured a 2-1 win against Shimizu S-Pulse on Saturday. Yuki Soma scored an injury-time winner to secure the three points for his side in that game. Two back-to-back wins in the league have helped them stay out of the relegation zone for now.
Avispa, on the other hand, recorded their first win in four games as they overcame third-placed Yokohama F. Marinos last time around. It was also the first time in four games that they scored a goal.
Nagoya Grampus vs Avispa Fukuoka Head-to-Head
The two rivals have squared off 25 times across all competitions thus far. The hosts have been the dominant side in this fixture with 17 wins to their name, while the visitors have just five wins against their eastern rivals.
Avispa have just one win in their travels to Nagoya in league fixtures, with that victory coming in the 2000 edition of the competition. The two sides have played out draws just five times.
The hosts have 10 wins in their last 13 encounters against Hachi, with the last meeting coming in August, when Nagoya recorded a 1-0 win.
Nagoya Grampus form guide (all competitions): W-W-W-L-D
Avispa Fukuoka form guide (all competitions): W-D-L-D-W
Nagoya Grampus vs Avispa Fukuoka Team News
Nagoya Grampus
Kazuki Nagasawa remains sidelined with a muscle injury. Jakub Swierczok is another absentee, having been given a ban following a failed doping test last year.
Injured: Kazuki Nagasawa.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: Jakub Swierczok.
Unavailable: None.
Avispa Fukuoka
There were no reported injuries or suspensions for the visitors for the game.
Injured: None.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.
Unavailable: None.
Nagoya Grampus vs Avispa Fukuoka Predicted XIs
Nagoya Grampus (4-2-3-1): Mitchell Langerak (GK); Yutaka Yoshida, Haruya Fujii, Shonnosuke Nakatani, Ryoya Morishita; Leo Silva, Sho Inagaki; Keiya Sento, Yoichiro Kakitani, Mateus; Yuki Soma.
Avispa Fukuoka (4-4-2): Masaaki Murakami (GK); Yota Maejima, Douglas Grolli, Tatsuki Nara, Takaaki Shichi; Takeshi Kanamori, Hiroyuki Mae, Shun Nakamura, Jordy Croux; Yuya Yamagishi, Juanma
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Nagoya Grampus vs Avispa Fukuoka Prediction
The visitors have the best defensive record in the competition, conceding just nine goals in 14 games. The hosts, on the other hand, have scored at least one goal in each of their seven games and are expected to find the back of the net in this game.
The home side have had just one loss at home this season and we don't expect them to drop points here. We are backing Grampus to eke out a narrow win in this game.
Prediction: Nagoya Grampus 2-1 Avispa Fukuoka