Kawasaki Frontale vs Consadole Sapporo

Mid-table Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo head to the Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium to encounter J1 League title-bidders Kawasaki Frontale.

Things are not going Kawasaki’s ways these days, as they head into proceedings having gone winless in their last three league matches on the trot (D1, L2). More importantly, Toru Oniki’s men failed to get on the scoresheet in those three outings, losing the last two by an aggregate score of 5-0. After allowing Yokohama Marinos to leapfrog them into the top of the standings, the reigning champions will be desperate to get back to winning ways here. There’s plenty of reason for optimism, as Kawasaki have won six of their last seven home meetings with Sapporo on home turf (D1), netting 2+ goals in five of them.

As for Sapporo, a 1-1 home draw with Sanfrecce Hiroshima last time out made it five matches without winning (D2, L2 – 90min only). A lack of stubbornness at the back has seen the visitors concede 2+ goals in four of their five previous competitive outings, underlining their growing defensive woes. Moreover, since drawing ‘nil-nil’ at Gamba Osaka in early May, Mihailo Petrovic’s men have gone three successive away league games without a clean sheet, conceding an average of two goals per match in that span. Despite Sappporo’s underwhelming defensive record, they’ve shown a respectable fighting spirit. Indeed, they’ve bounced back to avoid defeat in two of their five away league outings in which they fell behind this term (W1, D1, L3).