📏 Form Guide

Cerezo Osaka

LLDDWW 🌤

Cerezo Osaka are hoping to win again following a 0-2 J1 League success over Sagan Tosu.

In that game, Cerezo Osaka had 36% possession and 6 shots on goal with 3 on target. For Cerezo Osaka, the goals were scored by Vitor Bueno (48') and Masaya Shibayama (64'). Sagan Tosu had 12 shots at goal with 3 on target.

It’s been seldom in recent games where Cerezo Osaka have managed to hold out for a full 90 minutes. The facts show that Cerezo Osaka have been scored against in 5 of their previous 6 clashes, shipping 6 goals during that time.

Going into this one, Cerezo Osaka are unbeaten in their previous 2 league matches at home.

Shonan Bellmare

WLLWDD ⚖

In their previous fixture, Shonan Bellmare drew 4-4 in the J1 League tie with Urawa Red Diamonds.

In that match, Shonan Bellmare managed 43% possession and 20 shots on goal with 4 of them on target. For Shonan Bellmare, the goalscorers were Lukian (23', 74') and Akito Suzuki (32', 46'). Urawa Red Diamonds got 15 attempts at goal with 7 on target. Shinzo Koroki (11'), Yusuke Matsuo (55'), Naoki Maeda (64') and Samuel Gustafson (81') scored for Urawa Red Diamonds.

Looking at their form, and Shonan Bellmare have been scored against in 5 of their last 6 games, seeing their opponents hit 9 goals in total. Defensively, Shonan Bellmare have some weaknesses to address. Such a pattern might not be carried forward here, though.

Analysis of their past results shows that Shonan Bellmare:

• have not been beaten by Cerezo Osaka when they have played them away from home in the previous 3 league games.
• have not been beaten in their last 6 away league matches.

🤜🤛 Head to head

A look at their prior head-to-head clashes stretching back to 29/05/2022 shows that Cerezo Osaka have won 4 of these & Shonan Bellmare 1, with the tally of drawn games standing at 1.

A combined sum of 14 goals were shared by the two clubs throughout the course of those matches, with 10 of them from Sakura and 4 belonging to Shonan. The average goals per game has been 2.33.

The previous league match featuring these clubs was J1 League match day 29 on 30/09/2023 and the score finished Cerezo Osaka 0-2 Shonan Bellmare.

In that match, Cerezo Osaka had 56% possession and 13 shots on goal with 7 on target.

Shonan Bellmare had 14 attempts at goal with 4 on target. Akito Suzuki (79') and Yuki Ohashi (87') scored.

The referee was Akihiko Ikeuchi.

ℹ️ Team News: Cerezo Osaka

Sota Kitano (Meniscus injury), Shinnosuke Kinoshita (Hamstring muscle injury) and Ryosuke Shindo (Hamstring injury) will not be able to play for Cerezo Osaka manager Akio Kogiku. Masaya Shibayama is ineligible for this match because of suspension.

It looks as if Sakura may well opt for a 4-1-2-3 formation for this one and select Jin-Hyeon Kim, Seiya Maikuma, Ryuya Nishio, Kakeru Funaki, Kyohei Noborizato, Shunta Tanaka, Vitor Bueno, Hiroaki Okuno, Lucas Fernandes, Leo and Capixaba.

ℹ️ Team News: Shonan Bellmare

Shonan Bellmare manager Satoshi Yamaguchi has to currently contend with reduced team options. Sere Matsumura (Meniscus injury), Kosuke Onose (Hamstring injury), Ryo Nemoto (Cruciate ligament tear) and Naoki Yamada (Hamstring injury) are those who can’t be considered.

We reckon that Shonan Bellmare will likely elect for a 4-4-2 system using Bum-Keun Song, Yuto Suzuki, Kazuki Oiwa, Min-Tae Kim, Daiki Sugioka, Masaki Ikeda, Akimi Barada, Satoshi Tanaka, Taiyo Hiraoka, Lukian and Akito Suzuki.

✨ Prediction

We’re inclined to think that Shonan Bellmare have the capability to find the net against this Cerezo Osaka lineup, however that realistically won’t be enough to prevent defeat.

Our selection here is for both teams to score in a 2-1 advantage for Cerezo Osaka after the 90. It will be interesting to see how this one goes.

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

Victor Martins, 06:10 30/03/2024