Sagan Tosu will entertain league leaders Yokohama F. Marinos at the Tosu Stadium in the J1 League on Saturday.
The hosts have suffered back-to-back league defeats to drop to eighth in the standings. They suffered a 1-0 loss against Kashiwa Reysol in their previous outing and suffered their third defeat across competitions against Ventfront Kofu in the Emperor's Cup on Wednesday.
Yokohama, meanwhile, are in solid form at the moment, undefeated in their last seven league outings. Their winning streak came to a halt in the 2-2 draw against Cerezo Osaka last week. They were 2-0 down till the 84th minute, but Leonardo de Sousa Pereira bagged a quick-fire brace to rescue a point.
The visitors head into the game with a week's rest and will look to return to winning way here.
Sagan Tosu vs Yokohama F. Marinos Head-to-Head
This will be the 27th meeting between the two teams across competitions. Yokohama have the better record in this fixture with 16 wins and six defeats. Sagan have won four times at Saturday's venue but are winless in this fixture since 2018.
The two teams last met at the NHK Spring Mitsuzawa Football Stadium in a 1-1 draw in the league.
Sagan Tosu form guide (all competitions): L-L-L-W-W.
Yokohama F. Marinos form guide (all competitions): D-W-W-W-L.
Sagan Tosu vs Yokohama F. Marinos Team News
Sagan Tosu
The hosts have no reported absentees.
Injured: None.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.
Unavailable: None.
Yokohama F. Marinos
The visitors also have an an-almost full-strength squad for the trip to Kyushu, as only Takuya Kida is sidelined.
Injured: Takuya Kida.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.
Unavailable: None.
Sagan Tosu vs Yokohama F. Marinos Predicted XIs
Sagan Tosu (4-1-4-1): Il-Kyu Park (GK); Diego, Shinya Nakano, Masaya Tashiro, Wataru Harada; Kei Koizumi; Yuto Iwasaki, Jun Nishikawa, Fuchi Honda, Yuki Horigome; Taisei Miyashiro.
Yokohama F. Marinos (4-3-3): Yohei Takaoka (GK); Katsuya Nagato, Dudu, Shinnosuke Hatanaka, Ken Matsubara; Takuma Nishimura, Tomoki Iwata, Joel Chima Fujita; Elber, Kota Mizunuma, Leonardo de Sousa Pereira
Up to $250 Deposit Match at BetRivers/SugarHouse
Sagan Tosu vs Yokohama F. Marinos Prediction
Marinos have the best attacking record in the league, scoring 46 goals in 21 games. Sagan, meanwhile, have found the back of the net 27 times this season.
The hosts have a slightly better defensive record this season, conceding 22 goals, as opposed to the league leaders, who have let in 23. A clean sheet for either team seems unlikely. Given their better form in recent fixtures, Yokohama should eke out a narrow win.
Prediction: Sagan Tosu 1-2 Yokohama F. Marinos.