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J1 League leaders Yokohama F. Marinos host fourth-placed Sanfrecce Hiroshima at the Nissan Stadium in their upcoming league fixture on Wednesday.
The home team have made it five wins in a row in the league and are in solid form at the moment. After a 4-0 win against Kashiwa Reysol last month, they played out another high-scoring game last Saturday. Léo Ceará's hat-trick helped them to a 5-3 win against Shimizu S-Pulse.
Sanfrecce returned to winning ways on Saturday with a 3-0 win against Jubilo Iwata. With yet another clean sheet, they were able to maintain the best defensive record in the league.
Yokohama F. Marinos vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima Head-to-Head
The two sides have crossed paths 97 times across all competitions thus far. The home team have been the better side in this fixture, with 56 wins to their name, while the visiting side have won 29 times against their eastern rivals. The spoils have been shared 12 times between the two rivals.
They will meet again in the J League Cup quarter-finals in August. They last squared off at the Edion Stadium Hiroshima in April, with the then-hosts securing a 2-0 win.
Yokohama F. Marinos form guide (all competitions): W-W-L-W-W
Sanfrecce Hiroshima form guide (all competitions): W-L-W-W-W
Yokohama F. Marinos vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima Team News
Yokohama F. Marinos
Takuya Kida and Ryuta Koike continue to be sidelined with injuries at the moment and there are no new absentees for them to worry about at the moment.
Injured: Takuya Kida, Ryuta Koike
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.
Unavailable: None.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Ezequiel and Shun Ayukawa remain sidelined with injuries while Douglas Viera joined them in the infirmary with a knee issue last week.
Injured: Ezequiel, Shun Ayukawa, Douglas Viera
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.
Unavailable: None.
Yokohama F. Marinos vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima Predicted XIs
Yokohama F. Marinos (4-3-3): Yohei Takaoka (GK); Katsuya Nagato, Ryotaro Tsunoda, Shinnosuke Hatanaka, Ken Matsubara; Takuma Nishimura, Tomoki Iwata, Kota Watanabe; Elber, Kota Mizunuma, Leonardo de Sousa Pereira.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima (3-4-2-1): Keisuke Osako (GK); Sho Sasaki, Hayato Araki, Tsukasa Shiotani; Shunki Higashi, Gakuto Notsuda, Tomoya Fujii, Tsukasa Morishima; Makoto Mitsuta, Junior Santos; Nassim Ben Khalifa.
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Yokohama F. Marinos vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima Prediction
Yokohama have the best-attacking record in the league (41 goals) while they have also been solid defensively, conceding just 21 goals in 19 games. Sanfrecce have the joint-best defensive record in the league, conceding 17 goals in 19 games.
The clash between the two in-form teams should make for an interesting watch and is expected to be closely contested, but we are backing the home team to eke out a narrow win here.
Prediction: Yokohama F. Marinos 2-1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima
