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The Emperor's Cup returns this week and will see Nagoya Grampus host Cerezo Osaka at the Toyota Stadium on Wednesday in the last 16 of the cup competition.
Nagoya Grampus faced Doshisha University in the second round of the domestic cup, winning 2-0 via second-half goals from Hiroyuki Abe and Mateus. They were then drawn against Zweigen Kanazawa in the next round, winning 1-0, this time with Hiroyuki Abe scoring once again.
The home side have won the Emperor's Cup twice, both of which came before 2000. They were knocked out in the quarterfinals last season and will hope for better luck this time around.
Cerezo Osaka also began their cup campaign in the second round, facing Kansai University and picking up a comfortable 3-1 win. They then faced Vegalta Sendai in the third round, winning 3-2.
The Sakura are four-time winners of the domestic competition, lifting the trophy in 1968, 1970, 1974 and most recently in 2017. They were knocked out by the Urawa Reds in the semifinals of the competition last season and will be looking to go all the way this year.
Nagoya Grampus vs Cerezo Osaka Head-to-Head
There have been 31 meetings between Nagoya Grampus and Cerezo Osaka. The hosts have won 16 of those games while the visitors have won 10 times. There have been six draws between the two teams.
The two sides last faced off in a league clash earlier this season, which Grampus won 1-0.
Nagoya Grampus Form Guide (All Competitions): L-W-D-D-W
Cerezo Osaka Form Guide (All Competitions): D-D-W-D-W
Nagoya Grampus vs Cerezo Osaka Team News
Nagoya Grampus
The hosts will be without the services of Jakub Swierczok, Kazuki Nagasawa and Noriyoshi Sakai this week as the trio are all injured.
Injured: Jakub Swierczok, Kazuki Nagasawa, Noriyoshi Sakai
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Cerezo Osaka
Former Fulham man Adam Taggart came off injured last time out and is a major doubt for this one. Yusuke Maruhashi and former Sevilla midfielder Hiroshi Kiyotake are both injured and will not play here.
Injured: Yusuke Maruhashi, Hiroshi Kiyotake
Doubtful: Adam Taggart
Suspended: None
Nagoya Grampus vs Cerezo Osaka Predicted XI
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
Cerezo Osaka Predicted XI (4-4-2): Jin Hyeon Kim; Riku Matsuda, Matej Jonjic, Koji Toriumi, Ryosuke Yamanaka; Seiya Maikuma, Hiroaki Okuno, Riki Harakawa, Hirotaka Tameda; Mutsuki Kato, Bruno Mendes
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Nagoya Grampus vs Cerezo Osaka Prediction
Nagoya Grampus have won just one of their last four games, scoring just two goals in that period. They are winless in back-to-back home games and will be desperate to end that run on Wednesday.
Cerezo Osaka are unbeaten in their last five games and have lost just one of their last 13 across all competitions. They are in much better form than their opponents and should win this one.
Prediction: Nagoya Grampus 1-2 Cerezo Osaka
