Kashiwa Reysol vs Cerezo Osaka 15/08/20

15 August 2020

Kashiwa Reysol will be looking to extend an unbeaten run in their J1 League H2Hs with Cerezo Osaka when the two sides lock horns at the Hitachi Kashiwa Stadium this weekend.

Kashiwa had been on a four-game winning J1 League streak before a 1-1 away draw with Yokohama Marinos brought it to a halt. Yet, the hosts have won all four of their previous home matches in various competitions, scoring over 2.5 goals on three of those occasions. Quick out of the blocks, Nelsinho Baptista’s men have netted the league joint-high seven first-half goals, finding the opening goal in three of five J1 League home outings. But, Kashiwa’s leaky defense has already conceded nine league goals at home this term, eight of which arrived in the second half of play (88.89%)!

An overwhelming 3-0 away win over Vegalta Sendai in their midweek’s YBC Levain Cup showdown has extended Gamba’s unbeaten run in all competitions to six (W3, D3). But, low-scoring has been a theme for the visitors lately, as seven of their last nine competitive fixtures have featured under 2.5 goals, with just two seeing both teams score. Moreover, six of those nine matches yielded a goalless half-time scoreline! In fact, a lack of ruthlessness in the attacking third has seen Miguel Angel Lotina’s side score under 1.5 goals in six of their last eight competitive matches.