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The J League Cup returns this weekend and will see Kyoto Sanga host Nagoya Grampus at the Sanga Stadium on Saturday in the second leg of their playoff tie.
Kyoto Sanga suffered a 6-1 thrashing in the first leg of the tie and have it all to do this weekend to advance in the competition. They found themselves behind early in the game before Sota Kawasaki was sent off just before the break as their lot went from bad to worse.
The Sanga have endured a rather tough return to the domestic cup and now need something close to a miracle to overturn the first leg result.
Nagoya Grampus are in a good position to advance in the tournament after their dominant first leg display. They were at their clinical best on the day, with four different players getting on the scoresheet, including Sho Inagaki and Mateus, who clinched braces.
The first leg result means the visitors are alive and well in their title defense and will now be looking to finish the job when they play on Saturday.
Kyoto Sanga vs Nagoya Grampus Head-to-Head
There have been 12 meetings between Kyoto Sanga and Nagoya Grampus. The hosts have won just two of those matchups while the visitors have won six times. There have been four draws between the two sides.
The two sides last faced off in the first leg last weekend, which the visitors won 6-1.
Kyoto Sanga Form Guide (All Competitions): L-W-W-L-L
Nagoya Grampus Form Guide (All Competitions): W-W-L-W-W
Kyoto Sanga vs Nagoya Grampus Team News
Kyoto Sanga
Sota Kawasaki received a red card in the first leg and has been suspended from this one. Naoto Misawa and Quenten Martinus are both injured and will be absent as well.
Injured: Naoto Misawa, Quenten Martinus
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Sota Kawasaki
Nagoya Grampus
Australia international Mitchell Langerak, Jakub Swierczok and Kazuki Nagasawa are all injured and will not play on Saturday while Yutaka Yoshida is a doubt.
Injured: Mitchell Langerak, Jakub Swierczok, Kazuki Nagasawa
Doubtful: Yutaka Yoshida
Suspended: None
Kyoto Sanga vs Nagoya Grampus Predicted XI
Kyoto Sanga Predicted XI (4-3-3): Naoto Kamifukumoto; Kosuke Shirai, Hisashi Appiah, Shogo Asada, Takuya Ogiwara; Shimpei Fukuoka, Daiki Kaneko, Shohei Takeda; Fuki Yamada, Temma Matsuda, Peter Utaka
Nagoya Grampus Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Yohei Takeda; Yuichi Maruyama, Haruya Fujii, Shinnosuke Nakatani; Yuki Soma, Leo Silva, Sho Inagaki, Ryoya Morishita; Keiya Sento, Mateus; Noriyoshi Sakai
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Kyoto Sanga vs Nagoya Grampus Prediction
Kyoto Sanga have a mountain to climb after that first leg result. They have lost three of their last five games and are not exactly in the best of form.
Meanwhile, Nagoya Grampus have won six of their last seven games across all competitions. They have already done half the job and should advance to the next round on Saturday.
Prediction: Kyoto Sanga 1-2 Nagoya Grampus
