The J League campaign continues this weekend and will see Shonan Bellmare host Nagoya Grampus on Saturday.
Shonan Bellmare endured an abysmal start to the season but have found good form of late. They beat Kyoto Sanga 1-0 in their last game, with the team's top scorer Shuto Machino scoring a late goal to clinch all three points for Satoshi Yamaguchi's men.
The hosts sit 16th in the league table with 19 points from 18 games. They will be looking to continue their good run this weekend as they seek to exit the drop zone.
Nagoya Grampus have enjoyed good form in cup competitions of late but continue to struggle in their league duties. They were held to a 1-1 home draw by the Kashima Antlers in their last game, with Matheus scoring a second-half equalizer from the penalty spot.
The Grampus sit 11th in the league standings, just two points above their weekend hosts, and will be looking to widen that gap come Saturday.
Shonan Bellmare vs Nagoya Grampus Head-to-Head
There have been 20 meetings between Shonan Bellmare and Nagoya Grampus. The hosts have won six of those games while the visitors have won nine times. There have been five draws between the two sides.
The two sides last faced off in a league clash earlier this season, with Nagoya Grampus winning 2-1.
Shonan Bellmare Form Guide: W-W-L-W-W
Nagoya Grampus Form Guide: D-L-L-W-W
Shonan Bellmare vs Nagoya Grampus Team News
Shonan Bellmare
The hosts will be without the services of Takuya Okamoto and Shuto Yamamoto when they play this weekend as the duo are both injured.
Injured: Takuya Okamoto, Shuto Yamamoto
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Nagoya Grampus
The visitors also have a few injured personnel ahead of their weekend clash, including Jakub Swierczok, Kazuki Nagasawa, Yutaka Yoshida and Noriyoshi Sakai.
Injured: Jakub Swierczok, Kazuki Nagasawa, Yutaka Yoshida, Noriyoshi Sakai
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Shonan Bellmare vs Nagoya Grampus Predicted XI
Shonan Bellmare Predicted XI (3-5-2): Kosei Tani; Daiki Sugioka, Kazuki Oiwa, Koki Tachi; Ryo Takahashi, Akimi Barada, Satoshi Tanaka, Masaki Ikeda, Hirozaku Ishihara; Shuto Machino, Yusuke Segawa
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
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Shonan Bellmare vs Nagoya Grampus Prediction
Shonan Bellmare have won four of their last five league games after winning just one of their 13 games prior. They have also won two of their last three home league games and will hope to maximize their home advantage this weekend.
Nagoya Grampus are on a run of back-to-back unbeaten outings and have lost just one of their last six games across all competitions. However, they have struggled for results on the road this season and may have to settle for a point here.
Prediction: Shonan Bellmare 1-1 Nagoya Grampus