Sydney FC vs Kawasaki Frontale 21/05/19

21 May 2019

Out-of-form Sydney FC welcome an in-form Kawasaki Frontale to the Netstrata Jubilee Stadium in the final round of the AFC Champions League group stage fixtures.

Sitting bottom of Group H, the hosts go after their elusive first triumph in this CL campaign (D3, L2). Even though they’ve failed to wrap up three points in their opening two CL home games (D2), the Sky Blues will be looking to transfer their impressive recent home form into this clash (W3, D1). Netstrata Jubilee Stadium has been a venue of entertainment recently, with three of Sydney’s last four competitive games here seeing both teams score and produce over 2.5 goals. On the other hand, three of Sydney’s five outings in the AFC CL have featured under 1.5 goals, with all of them seeing the identical 0-0 halftime scoreline. Still, if Steve Corica’s men pull off a win here, it will probably be accompanied by a clean sheet, as four of Sydney’s last six home wins have seen them beat their rivals to nil.

Meanwhile, the visitors reside one point adrift of second-placed Shanghai SIPG, which makes this encounter a must-win game for them if they look to secure their place in the knockout stage. However, the Japanese team has endured a rough time when away from home losing both of their previous CL road fixtures – both by the same 1-0 scoreline. Still, Kawasaki’s only CL triumph has come in their home showdown against Sydney and has seen them beat the Australian outfit by a narrow 1-0 scoreline. Another encouraging fact for Toru Oniki is that his men have racked up four wins on their last five road trips across all competitions (W4, L1), with three of those victories being accompanied by a blank sheet.