Urawa Reds vs Cerezo Osaka prediction, preview, team news and more | J League Cup 2022 

The Urawa Reds will host Cerezo Osaka at the Saitama Stadium 2002 on Sunday (September 25) in the second leg of their J League Cup semifinal.

The Reds have struggled in their last few games, recently playing out a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the semifinals earlier this week. Yoshio Koizumi reacted quickest in the box to turn home the equaliser after the restart but could not spur his team to victory. The Urawa Reds are two-time winners of the domestic cup, last winning the competition in 2016 after beating Gamba Osaka on penalties in the final.

Cerezo Osaka, meanwhile, have picked themselves up after an underwhelming finish to August and start to September. A long-range strike from Satoki Uejo helped open the scoring in the first two minutes of the first leg before the Reds drew level in the second half.

The visitors finished runner-ups in the cup competition last season, losing 2-0 to Nagoya Grampus in the final. They will hope for better luck should they reach the final again.

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Urawa Reds vs Cerezo Osaka Head-to-Head

There have been 38 meetings between Urawa and Cerezo. Both teams have won 14 games apiece, while their other ten matchups have ended in draws, including their most recent meeting.

Urawa Reds Form Guide (all competitions): D-D-L-W-D

Cerezo Osaka Form Guide (all competitions): D-D-W-W-L

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Urawa Reds vs Cerezo Osaka Team News

Urawa Reds

Tomoya Inukai and Bryan Linssen are injured and will not play this weekend, while Hiroki Sakai is away on international duty, so he will be absent. Yuichi Hirano is unfit and could also sit this one out.

Injured: Tomoya Inukai, Bryan Linssen

Doubtful: Yuichi Hirano

Suspended: None

Unavailable: Hiroki Sakai

Cerezo Osaka

Adam Taggart has been called up to the Australian national team, so he will not feature for the visitors this weekend. Yusuke Maruhashi, Riki Harakawa and Chaowat Veerachat are injured and will miss out as well.

Injured: Yusuke Maruhashi, Riki Harakawa, Chaowat Veerachat

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Unavailable: Adam Taggart

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Urawa Reds vs Cerezo Osaka Predicted XIs

Urawa Reds (4-2-3-1): Shushaku Nishikawa; Takahiro Sekine, Alexander Scholz, Takuya Iwanami, Takahiro Akimoto; Atsuki Ito, Ken Iwao; David Moberg Karlsson, Yoshio Koizumi, Tomoaki Okubo; Yusuke Matsuo

Cerezo Osaka (4-4-2): Keisuke Shimizu; Ryuya Nishio, Matej Jonjic, Koji Toriumi, Ryosuke Yamanaka; Seiya Maikuma, Tokuma Suzuki, Hiroaki Okuno, Hirotaka Tameda; Mutsuki Kato, Satoki Uejo

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Urawa Reds vs Cerezo Osaka Prediction

The Reds are on a run of back-to-back draws and have won just one of their last five games across competitions. They have, however, won four of their last five home games and will fancy their chances here.

Cerezo, meanwhile, are on a four-game unbeaten streak, winning and drawing twice apiece. They have lost just one of their last seven games on the road and could win this one on away goals.

Prediction: Urawa Reds 2-2 Cerezo Osaka