The J1 League campaign continues this week and will see Nagoya Grampus host Kawasaki Frontale at the Toyota Stadium on Saturday.
Nagoya Grampus have struggled for form of late and are rapidly dropping down the league table. They were beaten 2-0 on home turf by Shimizu S-Pulse in their last league game before crashing out in the last 16 of the Emperor's Cup after a 2-1 defeat to Cerezo Osaka on Wednesday.
The Grampus sit 11th in the league table with 25 points from 21 games. They will be looking to shake off their latest results and get their campaign back on track this weekend.
Kawasaki Frontale returned to winning ways in the league last time out with an emphatic 4-0 win over Gamba Osaka. The Azzurro Nero put on an utterly dominant display in the game, scoring all four goals in the first half.
The visitors sit third in the league standings with 37 points from 20 games. They can leapfrog Kashima Antlers in second-place with a win this weekend and will be looking to do just that.
Nagoya Grampus vs Kawasaki Frontale Head-to-Head
Saturday's game will mark the 40th meeting between Nagoya Grampus and Kawasaki Frontale. The hosts have won just eight of their previous matchups while the visitors have won 24 times. Their other seven games have ended in draws.
The two sides last faced off in a league clash earlier this season, with the Azzuro Nero winning 1-0.
Nagoya Grampus Form Guide: L-W-D-D-L
Kawasaki Frontale Form Guide: W-L-D-W-L
Nagoya Grampus vs Kawasaki Frontale Team News
Nagoya Grampus
Yutaka Yoshida received a red card last time out and has been suspended from the weekend clash alongside Polish striker Jakub Swierczok. Kazuki Nagasawa and Noriyoshi Sakai are both injured and will miss out as well.
Injured: Kazuki Nagasawa, Noriyoshi Sakai
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Yutaka Yoshida, Jakub Świerczok
Kawasaki Frontale
Jesiel is out with an injury and will not play, while Yasuto Wakizaka could miss out after picking up a knock in the visitors' last game.
Injured: Jesiel
Doubtful: Yasuto Wakizaka
Suspended: None
Nagoya Grampus vs Kawasaki Frontale Predicted XI
Nagoya Grampus Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Mitchell Langerak; Yuichi Maruyama, Haruya Fujii, Shinnosuke Nakatani; Yuki Soma, Leo Silva, Sho Inagaki, Ryoya Morishita; Keiya Sento, Mateus; Yoichiro Kakitani
Kawasaki Frontale Predicted XI (4-3-3): Sung-Ryong Jung; Miki Yamane, Shogo Taniguchi, Shintaro Kurumaya, Asahi Sasaki; Kento Tachibanada, Chanathip Songkrasin, Daiya Tono; Akihiro Ienaga, Leandro Damiao, Marcinho
Nagoya Grampus vs Kawasaki Frontale Prediction
Nagoya Grampus are on a run of back-to-back defeats and have won just one of their last six league games. They are on a three-game winless streak on home turf and could struggle here.
Kawasaki Frontale's latest result ended a three-game winless run across all competitions and marked just their third victory in their last nine games. They are the stronger side ahead of the weekend and should come out on top.
Prediction: Nagoya Grampus 1-2 Kawasaki Frontale