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The J League Cup returns this weekend and will see Nagoya Grampus host Kyoto Sanga at the Toyota Stadium on Saturday in the first leg of their playoff tie.
After a sluggish start to the domestic cup in which they picked up just one win in four games, Nagoya Grampus bounced back commendably to win their final two group stage games to secure a second-place finish and hence a playoff spot.
The home side are the current holders of the domestic cup after beating Cerezo Osaka 2-0 in the final last year and will be looking to continue their title defence this week.
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In contrast, Kyoto Sanga began their J League Cup campaign on a positive note, picking up two wins and a draw in their first three games. However, they suffered back-to-back defeats in their subsequent games, putting their qualification ambitions in jeopardy before a 1-0 away victory over Kashiwa Reysol in their last group game saw them clinch top spot.
The Sanga missed the last 12 editions of the cup competition and only just returned this season after their promotion to the J1 League.
Nagoya Grampus vs Kyoto Sanga Head-to-Head
There have been 11 meetings between Nagoya Grampus and Kyoto Sanga. The hosts have won five of those games while the visitors have won twice. There have been four draws between the two teams, including their most recent meeting which ended 1-1.
Nagoya Grampus Form Guide (J League Cup): W-W-L-W-L
Kyoto Sanga Form Guide (J League Cup): W-L-L-W-W
Nagoya Grampus vs Kyoto Sanga Team News
Nagoya Grampus
Australia international Mitchell Langerak came off injured against Sanfrecce Hiroshima last weekend and will miss the game as a result alongside Jakub Swierczok and Kazuki Nagasawa.
Yutaka Yoshida is on the route to full fitness and may sit out this one.
Injured: Mitchell Langerak, Jakub Swierczok, Kazuki Nagasawa
Doubtful: Yutaka Yoshida
Suspended: None
Kyoto Sanga
Naoto Misawa is out with an injury while Quenten Martinus is a major doubt for this one.
Injured: Naoto Misawa
Doubtful: Quenten Martinus
Suspended: None
Nagoya Grampus vs Kyoto Sanga Predicted XI
Nagoya Grampus Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Yohei Takeda; Yuichi Maruyama, Tiago Pagnussat, Shinnosuke Nakatani; Yuki Soma, Leo Silva, Sho Inagaki, Ryoya Morishita; Keiya Sento, Mateus; Yoichiro Kakitani
Kyoto Sanga Predicted XI (4-3-3): Naoto Kamifukumoto; Kosuke Shirai, Hisashi Appiah, Shogo Asada, Takuya Ogiwara; Shimpei Fukuoka, Sota Kawasaki, Shohei Takeda; Fuki Yamada, Temma Matsuda, Peter Utaka
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Nagoya Grampus vs Kyoto Sanga Prediction
Nagoya Grampus have won all but one of their last six games across all competitions and will go into Saturday's game brimming with confidence.
Kyoto Sanga are on a run of back-to-back victories after winning just one of their nine games prior. They have, however, won just one of their last five games in this fixture and could lose here.
Prediction: Nagoya Grampus 2-0 Kyoto Sanga
