Vegalta Sendai will welcome Nagoya Grampus to the Yurtec Stadium for a matchday 35 fixture in the J1 League on Sunday.
The home side come into the game on the back of a 4-2 defeat away to Vissel Kobe on Wednesday. Yoshinori Muto starred with a hat-trick of assists and one goal in Kobe's victory.
Nagoya Grampus secured maximum points with a routine 2-0 win over Kashiwa Reysol on home turf. Jakub Swierczok and Shinnosuke Nakatani scored in either half to inspire their side's victory.
The win meant Grampus remained in fourth position, three points behind Vissel Kobe in the race to secure a top-three spot. Vegalta Sendai sit in 19th place and are six points away from safety.
Vegalta Sendai vs Nagoya Grampus Head-to-Head
Vegalta Sendai have 11 wins from their last 24 matches against Nagoya Grampus. Five matches ended in draws while Sunday's visitors have eight wins to their name.
Their most recent meeting came in May when Quentin Martinus' first half strike was enough to give Sendai a 1-0 away win on matchday 16 of the current campaign.
Vegalta Sendai form guide: L-W-L-D-L
Nagoya Grampus form guide (all competitions): W-W-L-D-L
Vegalta Sendai vs Nagoya Grampus Team News
Vegalta Sendai
Hayato Teruyama (ankle) and Kaito Ioka (Lumbar Vertebra Fracture) are unavailable due to injuries.
Injuries: Hayato Teruyama, Kaito Ioka
Suspension: None
Nagoya Grampus
Yuichi Maruyama (cruciate ligament), Hiroyuki Abe (knee) and Takuji Yonemoto are all unavailable due to injuries.
Injury: Yuichi Maruyama, Hiroyuki Abe, Takuji Yonemoto
Suspension: None
Vegalta Sendai vs Nagoya Grampus Predicted XI
Vegalta Sendai Predicted XI (4-4-2): Jakub Slowik (GK0; Takayoshi Ishihara, Kyohei Yoshino, Hisashi Tawiah, Takumi Mase; Kunimitsu Sekiguchi, Yoshiki Matsushita, Shingo Tomita, Chihiro Kato; Shuhei Akasaki, Cayman Togashi
Nagoya Grampus Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Mitchell Langerak (GK); Yutaka Yoshida, Min-Tae Kim, Shinnosuke Nakatani, Kazuya Miyahara; Kazuki Nagasawa, Sho Inagaki; Ryoya Morishita, Naoki Maeda, Mateus dos Santos; Jakub Swierczok
Vegalta Sendai vs Nagoya Grampus Prediction
Nagoya Grampus are slight favorites in the game and the visitors are likely to go all out for victory as they seek continental qualification.
Vegalta Sendai have been out-of-sorts throughout the season and are running out of time to preserve their top-flight status. The threat of imminent relegation could spur the hosts to up the ante but we are backing Grampus to secure a comfortable victory.
Prediction: Vegalta Sendai 0-2 Nagoya Grampus