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Nagoya Grampus and Cerezo Osaka will lock horns for the second time in four days on Saturday as the sides clash in the J League Cup finals.
The J1 League rivals also met in the quarter-finals of the Emperor's Cup on Wednesday, with Osaka comfortably winning 3-0.
Goals from Koji Toriumi, Tiago Pagnussat and Adam Taggart piled more misery on the beleaguered Grampus, who lost for the third time in their last four games in all competitions.
With Saturday's clash carrying higher stakes, it's going to be a lot closer than this, with Grampus looking to exact revenge.
Nagoya Grampus vs Cerezo Osaka Head-To-Head
Nagoya Grampus have 14 wins from their last 27 games against Cerezo Osaka, who've beaten them only nine times.
But that includes, as aforesaid, a thumping 3-0 victory in the Emperor's Cup when the sides clashed on Wednesday.
Nagoya Grampus Form Guide (all competitions): L-D-L-L-W
Cerezo Osaka Form Guide (all competitions): W-W-W-D-L
Nagoya Grampus vs Cerezo Osaka Team News
Nagoya Grampus
Yuichi Maruyama is the only notable absentee for Grampus as he continues his recovery from anterior cruciate ligament damage.
Yet manager Massimo Ficcadenti might shake things up a little following their 3-0 defeat at Osaka's hands earlier in the week.
Injured: Yuichi Maruyama
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Cerezo Osaka
The Cherry Blossoms won't have goalkeeper Van Lam Dang with a muscle problem, while Yuta Koike has a meniscal injury.
Unlike his Grampus counterpart, head coach Akio Kogiku is expected to field the same XI as on Thursday.
Injured: Van Lam Dang, Yuta Koike
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Nagoya Grampus vs Cerezo Osaka Predicted XI
Nagoya Grampus (4-2-3-1): Mitchell Langerak; Shumpei Naruse, Shinnosuke Nakatani, Yasuki Kimoto, Yutaka Yoshida; Kazuki Nagasawa, Sho Inagaki; Mateus, Yoichiro Kakitani, Ryoya Morishita; Jakub Swierczok.
Cerezo Osaka (4-4-2): Jin-hyeon Kim; Ryosuke Shindo, Koji Toriumi, Tiago Pagnussat, Naoto Arai; Hiroshi Kiyotake, Hiroaki Okuno, Hinata Kida, Hirotaka Tameda; Adam Taggart, Hiroto Yamada.
Nagoya Grampus vs Cerezo Osaka Prediction
The sides are currently in a contrasting run of form, with Nagoya Grampus struggling to win and Cerezo Osaka on a tear.
They've scored a lot of goals in the last few games whilst running a taut ship at the back, so all signs point to another victory for the Cherry Blossoms.
Prediction: Nagoya Grampus 1-2 Cerezo Osaka
