📊 Form Guide

Avispa Fukuoka

WDLLWD ⚖

Avispa Fukuoka prepare for this game following on from a 0-0 J1 League draw versus Nagoya Grampus.

In that game, Avispa Fukuoka had 46% possession and 15 attempts at goal with 2 of them on target. Nagoya Grampus got 5 attempts at goal with 1 of them on target.

Shigetoshi Hasebe's Avispa Fukuoka have managed to score 5 times in their past six outings. The number of goals that they have conceded in those same fixtures stands at 6.

Heading into this fixture, Avispa Fukuoka have not beaten Sanfrecce Hiroshima in their last 5 league games.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

DWDDWW 📈

Sanfrecce Hiroshima will go into this match following on from a 2-0 J1 League win versus Shonan Bellmare in their last outing.

In that match, Sanfrecce Hiroshima managed 57% possession and 28 shots on goal with 11 on target. The only player on the scoresheet for Sanfrecce Hiroshima was Yuki Ohashi (52', 96'). For their opponents, Shonan Bellmare got 8 attempts on goal with 1 on target.

A run of very capable showings from the Sanfrecce Hiroshima defensive unit has resulted in their ‘goals against’ tally standing at 3 from their last 6 clashes in total. During the same period of time, the number of goals that they have scored themselves amounts to 10. With no two games being the same, it remains to be seen whether that pattern will be replicated in this game.

Analysis of their past results shows that Sanfrecce Hiroshima:

• remain unbeaten by Avispa Fukuoka when they've played them away from home in the last 4 league matches. A very decent away record against them.
• are undefeated in their last 6 away league matches.

↔️ Head to head

Looking at their past head to head results stretching back to 10/04/2022 tells us that these fixtures have not been good ones for Avispa Fukuoka. They have not been able to register any victories whatsoever whereas Sanfrecce Hiroshima have been dominant against them, beating them in 83% of those ties.

A sum of 15 goals were yielded between them in this period, with 4 for Avispa and 11 created by Sanfrecce. That’s an average goals per game of 2.5.

The previous league meeting between these sides was J1 League match day 34 on 03/12/2023 when it finished Avispa Fukuoka 0-1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

That time, Avispa Fukuoka managed 45% possession and 3 shots at goal with 0 on target.

For their opponents, Sanfrecce Hiroshima got 23 shots on goal with 7 of them on target. Hayato Araki (96') was the scorer.

The referee was Koichiro Fukushima.

📋 Team News: Avispa Fukuoka

There aren’t many personnel worries, with just a single fitness concern for the Avispa Fukuoka gaffer Shigetoshi Hasebe to be concerned about due to a largely intact group of players. Ryoga Sato (Cruciate ligament injury) will miss out.

It seems likely that Avispa Fukuoka should opt for a 3-4-2-1 formation for the game featuring Masaaki Murakami, Douglas Grolli, Masaya Tashiro, Seiya Inoue, Masato Yuzawa, Yota Maejima, Daiki Matsuoka, Hiroyuki Mae, Masato Shigemi, Yuto Iwasaki and Shahab Zahedi.

📋 Team News: Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Sanfrecce Hiroshima manager Michael Skibbe has multiple availability issues to deal with. Douglas Vieira (Knee injury), Hiroya Matsumoto (Knee medial ligament tear), Hayato Araki (Hamstring injury), Yusuke Chajima (Calf strain), Ezequiel (Hamstring injury) and Taichi Yamasaki (Cruciate ligament injury) won’t be making appearances.

It’s our belief that Sanfrecce might utilise a 3-4-2-1 formation, giving starts to Keisuke Osako, Tsukasa Shiotani, Shuto Nakano, Sho Sasaki, Sota Koshimichi, Shunki Higashi, Taishi Matsumoto, Takumu Kawamura, Mutsuki Kato, Makoto Mitsuta and Yuki Ohashi.

💡 Prediction

We feel that over the course of the game, Avispa Fukuoka will need things to go their way to get anything against this Sanfrecce Hiroshima team who we reckon will just have the edge.

With that in mind, we reckon that it will be a narrow 0-1 victory for Sanfrecce Hiroshima when all is said and done.

Looking forward to this.

Our expert partners are tipping over 1.5 goals for this match. Check out their VIP predictions here.

Peter Guest, 04:09 13/04/2024